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THE YANKEE NAVY 






By TOM MASSON 



ILLUSTRATED 




New York 

LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

19 and 21 West Thirty-First Street 

1898 






&s*> 



sP 



# 



.IA"37 



Copyright. 1898, by LiFE PUBLISHING COMPANY 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



By Transfer 

D. C, Public Library 

DE, C 2 2 1938 



149*79 

WITHDRAWN 
CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Revolution. 
Birth of the American Navy — Comparative English and American 
Forces — Operations of Privateers — John Paul Jones — Lake 
Champlain — Operations in British Waters — Bonhomme Rich- 
ard and Serapis — American and British Losses. 

CHAPTER II. 
Millions for Tribute, but not One Cent for Defense. 
Congress and the Navy — The Dey of Algiers — Construction of the 
Navy — The War with France — Bainbridge and St. Laurent — 
Captain Truxton and the Constellation. 

CHAPTER III. 
War with the Barbary States. 
The Dey, the Bey and the Bashaw — Captain Bainbridge and His 
Visit to Constantinople — Defiant Attitude of the Bashaw of 
Tripoli — Operations in the Mediterranean — Capture of the 
Philadelphia — Decatur's Daring Feat — Reduction of Tripoli — 
Richard Somers — The Bey of Tunis. 

CHAPTER IV. 
The War of 1812. 
Causes Leading to the War — Chesapeake and Leopard — President and 
Little Belt — Constitution in Portsmouth — Opening of the War — 
President and Belvidera — Escape of the Constitution — Hull and 
Dacres. 

CHAPTER V. 

The War of 1812 — (Continued.) 
David Porter's First Cruise — Wasp and Frolic — United States and 
Macedonian — Constitution and Java — Capture of Chesapeake by 
Shannon — Career of Argus — Boxer and Enterprise. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 
The War of 1812— (Continued.) 

Lieutenant Woolsey at Sackett's Harbor — Perry and Chauncey — On 
Lake Ontario — Battle of Lake Erie — Perry's Great Victory — 
On Lake Champlain — Thomas MacDonough — -An Attempt that 
Failed. 

CHAPTER VII. 
The War of 1812— (Continued.) 

Porter's Cruise in the Essex — Young Farragut and the Pig — Rodgers 
and Hutchinson — Minor Engagements — Career of the Wasp 
and Her Disappearance — Constitution, Levant and Cyane — 
Last Shot of the War — Once More the Dey of Algiers — Decatur 
before Tunis, 1815-1861 — Minor Exploits. 

CHAPTER VHI. 
The Civil War. 
Object of the North — Depleted Condition of the Navy — Loss of the 
Savannah and Petrel— Port Royal — The Merrimac and Monitor, 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Civil War— (Continued.) 
On the Mississippi — Battle of New Orleans — Farragut Enters Mobile 
Bay — Lieutenant Cushing's Glorious Deed — The Alabama and 
Kearsarge — The Alabama Claims. 

CHAPTER X. 

War with Spain. 

The Affair of the Virginius — Attitude of Spain — Causes of the War — 
The New Navy — The Maine Disaster — Opening of the War — 
Battle of Manila — Hobson's Deed — Destruction of Cervera's 
Fleet. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



A Sea Fight in Revolutionary Times. 

Esek Hopkins. ........ 

John Barry. ........ 

Nicholas Biddle. ........ 

John Paul Jones. ........ 

The fight between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serap 
Richard Dale. ........ 

Joshua Barney. ........ 

"If necessary, I would have told you twice as big a li 
Medal presented by Congress to Capt. Truxton 
William Bainbridge. ...... 

"Spread it before the astonished eyes of the Dey." 
Edward Preble. ....... 

Taking aboard the freight of the Tripolitan ketch 
Decatur's conflict with the Algerian at Tripoli. 
Isaac Hull. ........ 

The Guerriere being raked by the Constitution. 
The Constitution bears down upon the Guerriere. 
'" I'll trouble you for that hat." . 
Wasp and Frolic. .... 

Stephen Decatur. .... 

United States and Macedonian. 
Jas. Lawrence. .... 

Death of Lawrence — " Don't give up the ship 
Oliver Hazard Perry. ...... 

Sergeant Spier catching the British out. . 
"Are you ready, boys?" "All ready, sir." 



Frontispiece 
13 
15 
17 
19 
21 

27 
29 

3i 
33 
37 
39 
4i 
43 
45 
52 
55 
58 
59 
62 

63 
65 
67 

70 

73 
75 
77 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

Perry leaves the Lawrence for the Niagara. ..... 79 

Perry's Victory ........... 80 

Battle of Erie. 81 

T. MacDonough. ........... 83 

Battle of Lake Champlain — MacDonough pointing the gun. . . 84 

Battle of Lake Champlain — From the land. ..... 85 

" The thirteen-year-old American boy and the English sailor went 

at it." 89 

David Porter. ......... .90 

"I, sir, am Commodore Rodgers." . . 92 

Johnston Blakely. ....... . . 93 

Constitution, Levant and Cyane. ........ 95 

Destruction of Confederate Privateer Petrel by the St. Lawrence, ior 

Bombardment of Port Royal. ........ 103 

Action between the Merrimac and the Monitor. .... 105 

Gun and Mortar Boats of the Mississippi. ..... 108 

Ram Manassas as she appeared after receiving a broadside from 

the Alississippi. .......... 109 

The Battle of New Orleans. ....... in 

A Mississippi River Ironclad. ........ 112 

The Spanish Man-of-War Tornado chasing the American Steamer 

Virginius. . . . . . . . . . .116 

George Dewey. . . ...... . irg 

W. T. Sampson. ...... .... 121 

Richmond Pearson Hobson. ........ 122 

Winfield Scott Schley. .......... 123 



The Yankee Navy 



CHAPTER I. 



The Revolution. 



Birth of the American Navy— Comparative English and American 
Forces— Operations of Privateers— John Paul Jones— Lake 
Champlain— Operations in British Waters— Bonhomme Richard 
and Serapis — American and British Losses. 



P*HE battle of Lexington was fought on April 19, 1775, 
-*- and the first treaty of peace with Great Britain was 
consummated on September 3, 1783. During this period the 
American Navy was born and cut its milk-teeth. 

This baby was extremely restless from the time of his 
birth, kept everybody up night and day, and made endless 
trouble for his blood relations, who were very, anxious to put 
him out of the way. In the end he cost them a lot of money 
and reputation. This baby was troubled with seasickness 
from the beginning, and not having anyone to train him, he 
just came up himself. But he proved to be a useful child and 
a good fighter. 

I n T 775» w h en this baby was born, every respectable farmer, 
mechanic, shoemaker and tradesman who didn't join the army, 
either commanded a privateer or shipped before the mast. 
A great proportion of them didn't know a capstan bar from a 
royal truck, and the commanders themselves had had little 
or no training. Most of them had been captains of merchant 
vessels, and Esek Hopkins, the first American Commodore, 



11 



12 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

had been a soldier. Congress developed the same traits 
then that it exhibits to-day, and made no systematic effort 
to establish a navy. There was no ranking system, and if a 
naval officer did anything signally brave, he was usually 
turned out of his ship to remain idle, or given a smaller one. 
The exasperating methods of Congress made a traitor of 
Benedict Arnold, one of the best soldiers in the American 
Army, who sulked, like Achilles, but to no good purpose. 

When the British burned Falmouth (now Portland) on 
October 17, 1775, the nation was aroused, and a naval com- 
mission appointed. The character of this commission was 
changed constantly during the war. As soon as it got into 
working shape it was tampered with and reorganized, and 
the useful elements carefully removed. In consequence, what- 
ever the navy did was done in spite of Congress. 

The first flag was raised over an American warship in 
the winter of 1775-6 at Philadelphia. To this day there is 
some doubt about its design, but it was supposed to be a 
yellow silk flag, with a coiled rattlesnake, and underneath 
the motto, " Don't tread on me." On that occasion there 
were present Esek Hopkins, Commander-in-chief ; Dudley 
Salstonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicholas Biddle, John B. 
Hopkins, captains, and John Paul Jones, first lieutenant, who 
is said to have raised the flag. This is, however, a small 
matter. The most important thing about John Paul Jones is 
that he never hauled an American flag down. 

At this time the American navy had eight men-of-war : 
the Alfred, the Columbus, the Andrea Doria, the Cabot, the 
Reprisal, Hamden, Lexington, Providence, and .sixteen other 
vessels bought into the service — twenty-five in all, and 




Esek Hopkins. 
First Commodore of the United States Navy. 



14 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

mounted 422 guns. The British navy had seventy-eight men- 
of-war stationed in American waters, mounting 2,078 guns. 
Put some rapid-fire guns on a steam yacht of to-day, go 
along the American coast and capture twenty-five lumber 
schooners as they come, of all sizes, place some old muzzle- 
loading twelve and eighteen pounders on their decks, and 
you will have something akin to the Revolutionary Navy. 
Such a navy, under fire of a modern battleship, would last 
only a few minutes. This navy during the war, in spite of 
the additions made, was nearly demolished, there being only 
two or three ships left to tell the tale. But with the aid of 
privateers, owned by individuals or the colonies, this navy 
captured 800 British vessels. When the war broke out noth- 
ing could have pleased the British merchants better, because 
they confidently predicted the complete annihilation of their 
formidable American competitors, but when they saw their 
own merchant vessels melting away before their eyes they 
sang a different tune. Most of the battles fought by the 
Americans were fought with implements captured from the 
British vessels. 

The naval war of the American Revolution in reality 
lasted nearly ten years, from June 17, 1772, when the British 
schooner Gaspe was captured in Providence harbor by Abra- 
ham Whipple with sixty-four men armed with paving stones, 
to April 8, 1782, when the English ship General Monk surren- 
dered to the American privateer Hyder Ally. The naval battles 
fought between these two dates would fill a good sized volume 
in itself, and though each is interesting enough, a recital of 
them would be monotonous. We shall content ourselves, there- 
fore, with a brief sketch of the more important engagements. 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



15 



The principal things the Continental Army lacked were 
guns, ammunition, clothes and money. In order to pamper 
the soldiers with luxuries of this sort, it was necessary to 
capture them from the enemy. So Commodore Esek Hopkins 




John Barry. 



sailed away in his fleet in February, 1776, to the Bahama 
Islands, and in March took New Providence and secured a 
hundred cannon and some valuable stores. On his return 
with these spoils, after taking two vessels, the British sloop- 



l6 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

of-war Glasgotc got mixed up with Commodore Hopkins's 
fleet, and after doing a lot of damage, succeeded in escaping. 
For this the Commodore was afterwards retired from the 
service. About this time Captain John Barry, in the Lexington, 
Captain Nicholas Biddle, in the Andrea Dona, Captain Elisha 
Hinman, in the Cabot, Captain Abraham Whipple, in the 
Columbus, and later in the Andrea Doria, made things lively 
for the British vessels. In the year 1776, 342 English mer- 
chant vessels were taken. 

Perhaps the most valuable captures, attended as they were 
by such uniform success, were made by John Paul Jones. 
As first lieutenant he accompanied Commodore Hopkins on 
his voyage to New Providence, and upon his return he was 
placed in charge of the 12-gun brig Providence, and later, on 
October 10, 1776, he was promoted to the rank of captain. 
Cruising off Bermuda in the Providence, Jones mistook the 
British frigate Soleboy for a merchant vessel, and didn't dis- 
cover his mistake until the latter was close aboard. Then 
followed a four hours' chase, when Jones suddenly put about, 
passing the Soleboy within gunshot before the Englishman 
could recover himself, and got away. This was one among 
many of the escapes of John Paul Jones, and is illustrative of 
the daring and successful qualities of American seamanship. 

Not many weeks after this Captain Jones, in command of 
the Alfred, captured three British vessels off Block Island, and 
in one of them, the 10-gun transport Mellish, was discovered 
10,000 British uniforms. It is needless to say that these were 
very welcome to our impoverished army. The next night 
Jones with his prizes was discovered by a British frigate, 
but by the clever use of false signals he succeeded in 



THE YANKEE NAVY 



17 



saving them, only one vessel, a letter of marque, being 
captured. 

Historians have rarely done justice to the services of our 




Nicholas Biddle. 



navy during the war of the Revolution. In addition to the 
government ships of war, hastily improvised and in great part 
recruited from the merchant vessels, the colonies fitted out 



IS THE YANKEE NAVY. 

privateers of their own, aided in many instances by private 
citizens, and there can be no doubt that our success in the 
war could not have been accomplished except by the coopera- 
tion of these daring navigators. They kept the army supplied 
with arms, ammunition and clothing captured from the 
enemy, and many a time when the spirit of our troops was at 
the lowest ebb, some bold naval exploit served to revive their 
courage. 

In the autumn of 1776 was fought the battle of Lake 
Champlain, on which so much depended. Sir Guy Carleton, 
who had been despatched from England for the purpose of 
opening up Lake Champlain, brought over three ships, which, 
having been taken apart, were put together again on the 
Lake, and augmented the British fleet with which it was 
intended to sweep, the Americans from the water. The result 
was not, however, as the British had planned. On October 
11, 1776, the American fleet under Benedict Arnold met the 
British fleet under Captain Pringle and a desperate battle 
was fought. The British fleet was superior, and was aided 
by savages stationed on shore. That night Arnold escaped 
with his fleet, and the next day the chase began, and Arnold 
was compelled to destroy his vessels. While the apparent 
temporary disadvantage was with our forces, Arnold's des- 
perate resistance convinced the British that they had a deter- 
mined enemy, and they were permanently thwarted in their 
attempt to break down the barriers between Canada and the 
United Colonies. Shortly afterward Sir Guy Carleton retired 
to his winter quarters. 

From the British standpoint, the most annoying character 
in the Revolution was John Paul Jones. Jones was a Scotch- 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



19 



man, and it seemed like the irony of fate that, as an American 
citizen (although not admitted to be such by the British), he 




John Paul Jones. 



should afterward return to his own native coast, like an 
avenging spirit. After his adventures on the American coast, 



20 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

in which he made so many valuable additions to the American 
sea force, he proceeded to France, as a base of operations. 
Previous to his appearance off the shores of England, Captain 
Lambert Wickes, in the Reprisal and Lexington, and Captain 
Connygham, in the Surprise and Revenge, had played havoc with 
the English merchant marine, the latter on one occasion, with 
becoming modesty, actually disguising his vessel and fitting 
her out in a British port. But Paul Jones set a pace that has 
never been equaled. In the early part of 1778 he made his 
first circuit of the British Islands in the Ranger. During 
this voyage he captured the English Drake, a superior vessel, 
and terrorized the inhabitants along the coast. After this 
Jones was idle. Having proved himself the best captain in 
the service, it was natural that Congress should fail to provide 
him with a ship. At last, in February, 1779, he succeeded in 
getting the Bonhomme Richard, a condemned hulk that had 
formerly been an Indian trader. He put some guns on her 
decks, shipped a crew of all nations, that was afterwards rein- 
forced by some American exchanged prisoners", and sailed 
away to fight one of the most famous naval battles of history. 
Shortly after receiving his reinforcements, Captain Jones 
greeted Richard Dale, who offered his services and was made 
first lieutenant. Richard Dale had a remarkable history. 
Early in 1776, the Reprisal, Captain Lambert Wickes, the first 
American cruiser which appeared in British waters, was sent 
across the Atlantic. In April, 1777, she was joined by the 
Lexington, Captain Henry Johnson, and the 10-gun cutter 
Dolphin, Lieutenant Nicholson. After capturing a number of 
prizes which were disposed of in French ports, thereby 
causing a protest from the British Government, the Lexington 




The fio-lit between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis. 



22 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

sailed from Morlaix in September, 1777, and was captured 
by a superior vessel, the Alert. The crew was taken to 
Plymouth, thrown into prison, and treated with great brutal- 
ity. Richard Dale was at this time master's mate of the 
Lexington, and was imprisoned with the rest. One day he 
secured a British uniform by some extraordinary means which 
he would never reveal, and putting it on, boldly walked out 
of prison, made his escape and joined the Bonhomme Richard. 

On September 22, 1779, Jones ran across the Serapis, and 
then occurred that remarkable moonlight engagement in 
which the Bonhomme Richard, in a sinking condition, compelled 
the Serapis to strike her colors. 

"Have you struck?" asked the British commander, when 
the Bonhomme Richard came alongside. 

" I have not yet begun to fight," replied Jones. 

Then, at a critical moment in the battle, the French 
ship Alliance, commanded by Captain Landais, and which had 
accompanied Jones on his cruise as a consort, drew up, and 
deliberately fired a broadside into the Bonhomme Richard. 
The only excuse for this, aside from the apparent jealousy 
of the French commander, was that he was crazy. His 
actions, both before and after the battle, seemed to indicate 
this. After three hours and a half of fighting, which for 
persistence and dogged determination on both sides has 
never been equaled, the Serapis struck her colors, and John 
Paul Jones became the foremost naval hero of his time, if not 
of all time. 

The last naval action of the war took place between the 
Hyder Ally and the General Monk, Captain Rodgers. The 
former was a Pennsylvania State cruiser of 16 guns and no 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 23 

men, commanded by Lieutenant Joshua Barney, and the latter 
a British cruiser of 20 guns and 180 men. The Hyder Ally 
was convoying a fleet of merchant vessels off Cape May 
when attacked by the General Monk, and in thirty minutes had 
captured the British vessel. 

During the Revolution the American loss in vessels was 
24, while the British was 102 ships of war, and about 800 
merchant vessels. 



CHAPTER II. 



Millions for Tribute, but not One Cent for Defense. 

Congress and the Navy — The Dey of Algiers — Construction of the 
Navy — The War with France — Bainbridge and St. Laurent — 
Captain Truxton and the Constellation. 



THE naval part of the Revolution is a complete play in 
itself. The ships, as characters, had their parts, but in 
the last act those that remained were all killed off, and the 
curtain went down on an empty stage. In the last scene, 
the three ships of war left were promptly disposed of, in 
order to rid the country of any semblance of a navy. In 1785, 
all that was left of it were some memories and a few officers 
who had survived, most of them promptly taking to the 
merchant service. Congress had not then reached its fullest 
measure of stupidity, but it had made a fair beginning. The 
history of the United States might be termed a continuous 
series of moral victories won by her best men over her 
legislators. At that time, the thirteen colonies having won 
their independence over the mother country, all was well. 
Nothing further was necessary. The army might return 
home and talk about what glorious deeds had been done. 
The navy was a relic of the past, good while it lasted, but 
of no further consequence. Every other nation had a kind 
heart, pure and unselfish motives, and would gladly welcome 

24 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 25 

us on the high seas, and allow us to help ourselves to as 
much of their commerce as we could conveniently carry. 
Beautiful speeches were made in Congress, showing that 
systems of defense were needed only by monarchies. Young 
republics had no need of them. We were now free and 
would remain so, through Divine Providence and the love 
of others. A prominent Senator from Pennsylvania (Maclay) 
voiced the sentiments of the majority when he said : " This 
thing of a fleet has been working among our members all 
the session. I have heard it break out often. It is another 
menace to our republican institutions." 

In the meantime our disinterested friend, the Dey of 
Algiers, became aware of our existence. Being a vassal of 
the Sultan of Turkey, who was somewhat grasping by nature, 
and his kingdom lying at the entrance of the Mediterranean, 
the Dey found it a great source of profit to himself and con- 
solation to the Sultan to gather in all the merchant ships 
that came into his net. Up to the year 1793, however, 
American commerce, which was rapidly assuming great 
proportions, had been comparatively safe from the pirates of 
the Dey, because Portugal, who kept a strong fleet at Gib- 
raltar, had agreed to protect American vessels. It is true 
that in 1785 two of our ships were captured by pirates and 
a number of our sailors made slaves, but at the time our 
patriotic legislators did not consider this of sufficient impor- 
tance to act. " Eleven unfortunate men now in slavery in 
Algiers," sneered Maclay, "is the pretext for fitting out a 
fleet." 

As a means to secure an end, England, in her character- 
istic manner, concluded in 1793 that our commerce must be 



26 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

wiped out. So her agent arranged a secret truce between 
the Dey and Portugal, forced the latter to recognize it, and 
without warning our merchant marine was pounced upon. 
One hundred and twelve of our men were sent into slavery. 
Of course, England continued to pay a small tribute to the 
Dey. It was more economical to do this, and give him the 
chance to wipe out her one competitor. And our brilliant 
Congressmen urged that we ought to do the same thing 
because John Bull did it. And this is precisely what hap- 
pened. Not having a navy, we were obliged to buy our 
sailors back. It cost about one million to do it. A beautiful 
ship, the Crescent, loaded with presents for the Dey, and 
several barrels of silver dollars, were sent by the Yankee 
nation as a tribute. In 1795 a peace was arranged with 
Algiers by the annual payment of about $22,000. 

This, however, was thought by some bigoted lovers of 
their country to be a base and servile surrender of our 
independence. To knuckle down thus to a Mohammedan 
pirate, the willing tool of England, was considered hardly 
compatible with our boasted freedom. An agitation was 
started, and the result was that a bill for a new navy was 
actually passed through Congress by a majority of two votes. 
George Washington had urged it long before, but having 
saved his country, his advice was not considered good. 

Just because Congress didn't personally build the new 
navy it was a good one. If they had, it would probably have 
consisted of mutton-legged flatboats, armed with popguns. 
But Joshua Humphreys, an old shipbuilder, supervised its 
construction, and under his advice six frigates were con- 
structed. They were the Constitution, the President, the United 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



27 



States, sister ships of forty-four guns, and the Chesapeake, 
the Congress and the Constellation, thirty-six guns each. 
Humphreys's idea was to have the navy small, but to contain 
better and faster ships than any afloat. This idea, it may be 




Richard Dale. 



stated, has been steadily adhered to from that time to this. 
Our ships of war have always been singly better than any 
afloat. These six frigates were soon augmented by sixteen 
other smaller vessels, so that in 1798, when the war with 



./ 



28 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

France broke out, the. United States had a respectable navy. 
It is related that when the Constitution was launched, Cap- 
tain Nicholson, who had charge of her, wished to have the 
honor of raising her flag, so on her launching day he gave 
instructions to this effect and went away to get his breakfast. 
During his absence, however, the flag was raised by the ship- 
wright, Samuel Bently. When Captain Nicholson got back 
and discovered what had been done he is said to have been 
beside himself with anger. 

Common tradition has it that the Lord looks out for little 
children and the United States of America, and it would 
seem in this instance as if the Dey of Algiers had been inter- 
posed to render it imperative upon us to have a navy to cope 
with France and England. It is equally certain that if it 
were not for the Dey no navy would have been built, and 
the few years from 1798 to 1801 would have been much more 
costly than they really were. Although we had bought off 
the Dey by tribute and established peace with that potent 
ruler, our ships were not idle from the time they were 
launched. France and England being at war with each 
other, and the United States a nonentity on the seas— as they 
both thought — they did not go out of their way to respect 
our flag or our feelings. They made fun of the ships we were 
building, and while England began her system of impressing 
our seamen into her service wherever they were found, France 
committed depredations on our floating property. 

Our new ships proved later that they were the best afloat 
of their size, and they were manned by our best blood, so 
that in 1798, when hostilities with France began, we were in 
much better condition to meet her on the ocean than she 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



k -9 



wotted of. Among the most prominent captains at this time 
were John Barry, Samuel Nicholson, Silas Talbot, Joshua 
Barney, Richard Dale, Stephen Decatur, Sr., Thomas Truxton, 
and Lieutenant Bainbridge, afterwards captain. Richard Dale 




Joshua Barney. 



will be remembered as the first lieutenant of the Bonhomme 
Richard when John Paul Jones fought his famous fight with 
the Serapis. Truxton was born on Long Island, and during 
] the Revolution commanded a privateer. 



30 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

The first French vessel captured during this trouble with 
France was the privateer Croyable, which was carried into 
Philadelphia, refitted, renamed the Retaliation, and immediately 
went to sea under the command of Lieutenant Bainbridge. 
In company with two other American vessels, the Montezuma 
and the Norfolk, on the morning of November 20, 1798, 
Bainbridge ran into the arms of two French frigates — the 
fnsurgente, Captain Barreaut, and the Voluntaire, Captain St. 
Laurent — and was captured and taken aboard the Voluntaire, 
where he offered his sword to St. Laurent, who refused to 
take it. "You had, sir," he said, "no opportunity to 
defend yourself. I therefore beg you to retain your 
sword." 

In the meantime the other French frigate, the Insurgents 
was chasing the two American vessels, and would have 
undoubtedly captured them had not Captain St. Laurent 
suddenly turned to Bainbridge and asked him what their 
armament was. 

"Oh," said Bainbridge, innocently, "the ship has twenty- 
eight twelve-pounders and the brig twenty nine-pounders." 

This was more than St. Laurent bargained for, and he 
signaled the Insurgente to haul off and return, much to 
Barreaut's disgust, who, when he hailed his senior officer, 
shouted out : " If you had not signaled me, sir, I would have 
taken those ships." 

"Your ship was not heavy enough, Citizen Captain," 
sternly replied St. Laurent. " Those vessels are armed with 
twelve and nine-pounders." 

"There isn't a gun on either," howled Barreaut, "heavier 
than a six pounder. I was near enough to see." 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



31 



St. Laurent turned to Bainbridge, who had a large laugh 
in his elbow regions. 

"Didn't you tell me," he sputtered, "those vessels had 
twelve and nine-pounders ? " 




" If necessary, I would have told you twice as big a lie. 



"I did," said Bainbridge, "and if necessary, I would have 
told you twice as big a lie." 



32 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

In the meantime the American vessels were beyond reach. 
The moral of this is that when you lie, tell one that is big 
enough to answer the purpose. 

On the 16th of this same month, Captain Isaac Phillips in, 1 

the Baltimore, while convoying some merchant vessels from' 

L 
Charleston to Havana, was sighted by a British squadron of; 

five frigates and the seventy-four gun Camatie, Captain 

Loring. Loring ordered Phillips aboard, proceeded to take' 

fifty-five men out of his ship, afterwards returning fifty of 

them, and seized three of the American merchant vessels. 

Phillips made a vigorous protest, but was powerless. 

Congress not only censured him, but he was dismissed from 

the service because he couldn't help himself. 

Our naval war with France lasted from May 28, 179S, to 
February 3, 1801, and the scene of most of the battles was 
in the vicinity of the West Indies. The only warship captured 
from us by the French was the Retaliation, which, as related, 
we had previously taken. Two of our schooners, the Enterprise. 
and the Experiment, fitted out expressly for this service,-, 
captured a great number of French vessels, and on October 
12, 1800, the Boston, Captain Little, took the Berceau, an 
inferior vessel, after a valiant defense. Bainbridge, after 
being captured by the Voluntaire, was taken to Guadeloupe,; 
where he and his sailors were nearly starved until they were 
finally released. 

But by far the most important work of this war was 
accomplished by Captain Truxton, in his famous cruise in the 
Constellation. On February 9, 1799, the Constellation took the 
French frigate Insnrgente off St. Kitts. The Constellation was 
slightly superior to the Insurgente. One year later Captain 






THE YANKEE NAVY. 



33 



Truxton, in the 
Constellation, had 
his famous fight 
with the Venge- 
ance, a vessel 
slightly superior 
to the Constella- 
tion. The action 
began at eight 
o'clock at night, 
and continued 
for five hours, 
when the Venge- 
ance succeeded 
in escaping. 
During the en- 
gagement her 
colors were twice 
struck, butTrux- 
ton was unable 
to see this. The 
Vengeance was 
badly crippled, 
as the fire of 
the Constellation 
had been de- 
liberate and 
direct. 

Medal Presented by Congress to Capt. Truxton. 

Much excite- 
ent and exultation was created by this battle. Our sailors 




34 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

were lauded to the skies, and, under the extraordinary pressure 
of public opinion, Congress actually voted Truxton a gold 
medal and gave him command of the President. 

Many of the minor officers in this war were afterwards 
to achieve celebrity, among them being Midshipmen Stephen 
Decatur and David Porter, and Lieutenant Isaac Hull, the 
famous Commander of the Constitution in the War of 1812. 



CHAPTER III. 



War with the Barbary States. 

The Dey, the Bey and the Bashaw — Captain Bainbridge and His 
Visit to Constantinople — Defiant Attitude of the Bashaw of 
Tripoli— Operations in the Mediterranean — Capture of the 
Philadelphia — Decatur's Daring Feat — Reduction of Tripoli — 
Richard Somers — The Bey of Tunis. 



THE Dey of Algiers was an avaricious and insatiable 
ruler. So also was the Bey of Tunis. Likewise was 
the Bashaw of Tripoli. This piratical triumvirate ruled over 
the northwest corner of Africa, on the southern shores of the 
Mediterranean. 

Piracy with them was not so much a pastime as an 
occupation. Being vassals to the Sultan of Turkey, they were 
obliged to reimburse him at frequent intervals, and they 
hesitated not to rob when there was any vessel in sight. 
Plunder was a state institution, the only difference between 
them and other rulers of the present day being that they 
preferred to rob other countries, while the rulers prefer to 
rob their own. 

When, therefore, the Bey of Tunis and his next-door 
neighbor, the Bashaw of Tripoli, beheld the success of the Dey 
of Algiers; when they saw the noble ship Crescent loaded 
with silver dollars which had been sent as a bribe from the 
Yankee nation to the Dey, they exclaimed with one voice, 

35 



36 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

"What are ive here for?" "Where do we come in?" and 
other expressions indicating their displeasure. Of course, in 
a case as urgent as this, had Congress previously not been 
influenced by George Washington and others to create a 
navy, the Bey of Tunis, and likewise the Bashaw of Tripoli, 
would no doubt have been similarly placated. Then they 
would have asked for more, and still more. Eventually they 
would have come over to the United States and settled, and 
their ancestors might, through inherited gifts, have been even 
more successful to-day in robbing the country than some of 
our present politicians. 

Their dreams, however, were knocked in the head by our 
new navy, and so it happened that through a few ships, 
which our legislation had almost tabooed as being monarchical 
and unnecessary, we were still able to preserve our independ- 
ence, although this had already been given a severe shock by 
the annual tribute we paid to a barbarous power. 

The ship George Washington, commanded by Captain 
William Bainbridge, sailed to the Mediterranean in the spring 
of i8co to convey our annual tribute to the Dey of Algiers. 
Captain Bainbridge was a spirited naval officer, and it may 
well be imagined that this duty was not a pleasing one in 
itself, but his stern sense of discipline carried him through 
the ordeal that was to come. 

After Captain Bainbridge had anchored his ship in the 
harbor of Algiers, under the guns of the fort, so that he was 
practically helpless, the Dey proceeded to inform him that 
he considered the Americans his slaves, and they must do his 
bidding. He therefore commanded him to go on an errand 
to Constantinople, taking a present to the, Sultan, and also to 



THE VANKEE NAVY. 



37 



i convey some Mussulmans to that potent Turk. Moreover, 
he directed that Bainbridge fly the Algerian flag over the 
George Washington as an acknowledgment of vassalage. 




William Baijjbkidge. 



This is a delightful incident, and that the Dey should 
have selected a ship named the George Washington as a peculiar 



38 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

mark of his pleasure has a tinge of irony. Particularly is this 
so when we consider that three years before George Wash- 
ington himself, in a speech before Congress, said that " to 
secure respect to a neutral flag requires a naval force organ- 
ized and ready to vindicate it from insult and aggression." 

Bainbridge did as he was told. He hoisted the Algerian 
flag until he got beyond gunshot, and then proceeded to 
Constantinople. But he got even, in a measure, with the Dey. 
The Sultan took a great fancy to him and his ship, and gave 
him a firman, a document which, displayed in the Sultan's 
dominions, means that the bearer can do as he pleases. 

Bainbridge sailed back to Algiers, taking care this time 
to anchor out of reach of the guns, and paid his respects 
once more to the Dey. 

That ruler, however, was not satisfied. He wanted more. 
He made not only further demands, but threatened to throw 
Bainbridge into jail. He was about to make good his threat, 
being in an ungovernable rage, when Bainbridge produced 
his firman and spread it before the astonished eyes of the 
Dey. It had an instant effect. The barbarian shrank back, 
and after that Bainbridge had his own way. He released a 
lot of French prisoners and landed them in his own ship in 
France, although that country was at war with us at the time, 
and then proceeded home, wild with rage at the treatment 
he had received. His story spread like wildfire, and the 
Yankee spirit was fully aroused. 

In the meantime the Bashaw of Tripoli, having written 
over to the President of the United States that he expected as 
much if not more than the Dey of Algiers, and being impatient 
of delay and rapacious to a degree, early in 180 r declared 



40 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

war on the United States. Up to this time nothing had been 
done to defend ourselves from these pirates. Thomas Jefferson, 
who became President in 1801, was pledged to rigid economy, 
and immediately a lot of vessels belonging to the navy were 
disposed of, but the imperative necessity of greater naval 
strength becoming apparent, the available force was afterwards 
augmented and a fleet sent to the Mediterranean to quell 
the pirates. Jefferson's idea of an adequate protection of 
our coasts, and as a measure of self-defense, consisted of a 
small fleet of diminutive gunboats stored on land in neat 
dockyards, and ready to be launched if the enemy hove in 
sight. They would scarcely live in a twenty-knot breeze, 
and the "enemy" would have had to look for them with a 
microscope. 

The nation now being aroused over the defiant attitude of 
the Bashaw of Tripoli, a fleet was dispatched across the 
Atlantic with Captain Richard Dale in command. The fleet 
comprised the President, Captain James Barron ; the Essex, 
Captain Bainbridge ; the Philadelphia, Captain Samuel Barron, 
and the schooner Enterprise, Lieutenant Andrew Sterrett. 
When the Dey of Algiers beheld these vessels he made the 
most violent protestations of friendship ; but not so the 
Bashaw of Tripoli. He had yet to learn something, and so 
the first lesson was given him by Sterrett, who, on August 
1st, captured off Malta the war polacre Tripoli, fourteen guns 
and eighty men. Twice the Tripoli's flag was lowered, and 
when Lieutenant Porter put off in a boat to board her a 
murderous fire was opened on him. 

There is a limit to all things, however, and Sterrett 
proceeded to rake the polacre fore and aft, and would have 



THE YANKEE NAVY 



41 



sunk the vessel with every man on board if the commander 
of her had not begged on his knees for quarter and thrown 
his flag in the sea. 

This was the first engagement, and there being few vessels 




Edward Preble. 

in the Tripolitan Navy, a desultory warfare continued until 
the 31st of October, 1803, when the Philadelphia, under Bain- 
bridge, in chasing a corsair into Tripoli, struck a reef, and 
the captain and crew were captured and thrown into jail, 
while the ship was rescued by the Tripolitans. 



42 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

With one of our captains and his crew in the power of 
the Bashaw, and one of our best ships in his possession, 
things were not the same as they had been. Bainbridge from 
his confinement, however, through the assistance of the 
Danish Consul, wrote a letter to Commodore Edward Preble, 
then commanding our fleet, suggesting a plan whereby the 
Philadelphia might be blown up. The only way this could 
be done was to secure some vessel of the enemy, and, disguised 
thus, enter the harbor at night. 

It happened that just such a vessel as was needed fell into 
our hands. In December, 1803, a Tripolitan ketch, the Mastico, 
set sail from the Barbary coast, filled with sprightly maidens 
for the Sultan's harem. This siren deep-laden vessel, bound 
for Constantinople, was sighted by the lookout of the Enter- 
prise, commanded by Lieutenant Decatur, who, giving chase, 
captured her with all on board. Thus the very vessel needed 
was supplied, and one night in February Lieutenant Decatur 
with a picked crew, some of them disguised as Turks, entered 
the harbor of Tripoli in the ketch, ran up alongside of the 
Philadelphia, boarded her, set her on fire, and escaped a short 
time before she blew up. This daring and successful 
enterprise may well be classed as one of the most courageous 
deeds in naval warfare. 

Following the destruction of the Philadelphia, for which 
Decatur was made captain, came a series of five attacks on 
Tripoli, which culminated, on the 27th of April, 1805, in the 
capture of Tripoli, with the aid of Hamet Karamauli, an elder 
brother of the Bashaw, who had been deposed, and the 
Stars and Stripes waved over the city. For this result 
Commodore Preble was entitled to the chief honors, and 



44 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

upon his return to the United States he was appropriately 
honored. 

While the American fleet was thus engaged in subduing 
Tripoli, there was not lacking the grit, gumption and gunnery 
which has always distinguished our naval heroes, and there 
occurred an act of bravery unsurpassed in naval history, and 
a dire tragedy. 

In the first of the attacks, made on August 3, 1804, the 
fleet not being of service among the dangerous reefs, gunboats 
were used, and six of them were dispatched to attack the 
enemy's fleet in the harbor. One of these boats was com- 
manded by Stephen Decatur and another by his brother. 
Stephen led the way, and, after a desperate fight, captured 
one of the enemy's gunboats. 

In the meantime his brother, James Decatur, deceived by 
the fact that another gunboat had treacherously hauled down 
her flag, stepped on board to take possession, and was shot 
dead by the commander, a swarthy Tripolitan. In some way 
Stephen heard that his brother was killed, and, losing no time, 
he cast off the gunboat he had in tow, boarded the boat which 
held his brother's murderer, and, after a desperate hand-to- 
hand conflict, shot him to death. While thus engaged, a Turk 
back of Decatur raised his scimiter to strike him. Reuben 
James, a common sailor, perceiving the Turk's design, 
interposed his own body, received the blow himself, and 
saved Decatur's life. Reuben James, though badly hurt, 
afterwards recovered. 

The tragedy of the war occurred on the night of September 
4th, when Master Commandant Richard Somers, in the 
identical ketch Intrepid that had been so useful in destroying 






THE YANKEE NAVY. 



45 



j the Philadelphia, after loading her with gunpowder, took her 
i into the harbor of Tripoli with the intention of setting her 
i afire among the enemy's fleet and returning in swift rowboats. 




Decatur's Conflict with the Algerian at Tripoli. 
Reuben James interposes his body to save the life of his Commander. 

Somers and his crew went, but never came back. The ketch 

was prematurely blown up, but no one knows how to this day. 

In the meantime the Bey of Tunis got impertinent, and, 




46 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

encouraged by England, announced his intention of declaring 
war. Our fleet, then under Commodore Rodgers, had grown ; 
formidable by reinforcements, and appearing before Tunis J 
compelled the Bey to sue for peace, a method which, if 
Congress had known its business, would have been pursued 
years before, and saved a great many men, ships, and Ameri- \> 
can dollars. Even after Tripoli had practically capitulated, 
however, we paid them $60,000 for the privilege of returning j 
some of our prisoners. 

Peace in the Barbary States having been fully dictated at 
the muzzles of our guns, the next naval event of importance 
was the War of 181 2. 






CHAPTER IV. 



The War of 1812. 

Causes Leading to the War — Chesapeake and Leopard — President 
and Little Belt — Constitution in Portsmouth — Opening of the 
War — President and Belvidera — Escape of the Constitution — 
Hull and Dacres. 



THE events and causes leading up to the War of 1812 
were numerous and well sustained. There were in 
the United States a considerable body of Tories, not yet 
thoroughly weaned from the parent government, and their 
influence upon public opinion was pronounced. It might be 
said that public opinion was at one time pretty evenly divided. 
On the one side were the large body of citizens who had 
fought and bled for their country's independence, and on the 
other side the still active Tories, who believed that any in- 
justice which England might force upon us should be sub- 
mitted to. The influence of this latter body of citizens 
enabled England to exercise an undue aggressiveness, and it 
was only when this was pushed to the extreme limit, by the 
impressment of our sailors and by wanton firing on our ships, 
that the tide of resentment waxed strong. It was difficult 
to make England perceive the exact difference between an 
American and an English subject, and where the two countries 
had been only so recently severed, much confusion in deter- 
mining the nationality of sailors was bound to arise. It was 
47 



48 THF. YANKEE NAVY. 

natural that England, at that time sorely in need of all her 
sailors, should endeavor to impress every available man, and 
her naval officers were not always nice in their efforts to 
secure this result, or just in their demands. 

The naval War of 1812 was a curious combination of 
insolent aggression on one side and legislative incompetence 
and individual superiority on the other. The period from 
the peace with the Barbary States to the outbreak of the war 
was employed by our able legislators in doing what they 
could to leave us unprepared, while every possible sign 
plainly revealed that war was an inevitable result. On top 
of the lesson we had received from a lot of pirates, and in the 
face of the most humiliating insults from a greater power, 
our navy was allowed to go by the board, so to speak. In 
place of building a few efficient ships of good size, it was 
proposed in 1807 to add 188 gunboats to the fleet of those 
already built, making 257 in all. These boats were to protect 
our coast from English squadrons ! 

Congressman Williams, of South Carolina, declared that 
the navy was "a curse to the country, and never had been 
anything else." When the war came, however, something 
had to be done, and all the available ships were put in 
commission, although Congress was of the firm conviction 
that it would be of very little use, and timidly tried to keep 
the vessels in port for fear they would be forthwith grabbed 
up by the enemy, whose prowess on the sea had terrorized 
the whole maritime world. The following vessels were in 
the American Navy at the beginning of the war : 

The President (44), Constitution (44), United States (44), Chesa- 
peake (36), Congress (36), Constellation (36), Essex (32), John 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



49 



Adams (28), Hornet (18), Wasp (r8), Argus (16), Siren (16), 
Enterprise (12), Nautilus (12), Vixen (12), and Fz)Vr (10). In all, 
seventeen ships, while Great Britain had over one thousand. 
Of course, England, as at the present day, had a vast mari- 
time commerce, and a system of dependent colonies so world- 
wide that in fighting a single foe it would have been impossible 
for her to have concentrated all of her ships at one point. 
That her naval superiority was manifest, however, it is only 
necessary to state that, in ships, England had stationed, 
from Halifax to the West Indies, over seven times the arma- 
ment of the whole American Navy. 

As illustrations of the methods employed by England, a 
few incidents which occurred previous to the actual outbreak 
of hostilities will suffice. Of these, the unfortunate Chesapeake- 
Leopard affair was the most prominent, and had the greatest 
bearing on our navy subsequently, teaching as it did a lesson 
that was not soon forgotten. 

On the 22d of June, 1807, the United States frigate Chesa- 
peake (36) dropped down to Hampton Roads, got under way, 
and started on her voyage to the Mediterranean, to relieve 
the Constitution at that station. Commodore Barron had come 
on board a short time before she started, after receiving a 
report from Captain Gordon, commander of the Chesapeake y 
that she was in readiness. As the ship sailed out to sea, 
everything was in confusion. Her crew was new, her decks 
were strewn with truck of all descriptions, and everything 
was as unshipshape as it ought not to have been. 

A squadron of British ships was lying in Lynnhaven Bay. 
One of them, the Leopard (50), had detached herself from the 
fleet, and, standing out in the offing, was quietly awaiting the 



50 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

approach of the Chesapeake. She was observed by Commodore 
Barron, who, turning to Captain Gordon, remarked : 

"I distrust that fellow's movements. I wonder what he is 
after?" 

He soon found out. The Leopard bore down on the Chesa- 
peake. Captain Berkley of the Leopard hailed. 

" I have a dispatch for you." • 

The Chesapeake lay to. 

In a short time a British officer came aboard with a note 
and the information that the Leopard had been instructed 
to search the Chesapeake for deserters. Commodore Barron 
replied : " Sir, my government will not permit the commander 
of any of its vessels to muster its crew to any but its own 
officers. Here is my reply." 

" Very well, sir," replied the British lieutenant, with a 
smile. 

After he had boarded his own ship, the Commander hailed 
once again. 

"On board the Chesapeake ! You must be aware, sir, that 
the orders of the Vice-Admiral must be obeyed." 

No reply was given, but the officers of the Chesapeake, in 
the short time they had, made every effort to clear the ship 
for action. It was not believed up to the last moment, 
however, that the Leopard would fire, although it had been 
observed that her ports were triced up. 

Suddenly a shot came across the Chesapeake's bow. Then 
another. Then a broadside. The cry to quarters was given. 
Some of the guns were defective. No ammunition could be 
found for others. Broadside after broadside from the Leopard 
poured in upon the helpless Chesapeake. Not a single shot 






THE YANKEE NAVY. 5 I 

would have been fired in return if Lieutenant Henry Allen 
had not seized a live coal from the galley and discharged a 
gun with his own fingers. Then the American flag was 
hauled down. Twenty-one men had thus wantonly been 
killed and wounded. 

Of course the British Government deprecated this little 
affair. The Vice-Admiral was censured for his ungallant act, 
and shortly afterwards promoted. Commodore Barron was 
suspended for five years, without pay, for his negligence. On 
the whole, however, it proved a good lesson for the American 
Navy, and very useful afterwards. Our ships were not caught 
napping again. 

About four years after this, it happened that we paid back 
the British in their own coin for the Chesapeake affair. The 
impressment of American seamen had, of course, gone on in 
the interval, until it was getting to be a serious matter. 
Commodore Roagers was not disposed to submit to such 
encroachments on our rights, and when he heard that an 
English frigate, presumably the Guerriere, had seized an 
American sailor, he hurried to sea in the President in search 
of her. On the topsails of the President, in conspicuous 
letters, was painted her name, that the British vessels might 
j know who she was. On the evening of May 14, 181 1, Rodgers 
! hailed a strange ship that he took to be a frigate. 

"What sail is that?" 

" What sail is that ? " came the answer. 

" What sail is that ?" repeated Rodgers. 

A shot came in reply. Whereupon the President opened 

1 with a broadside, and kept it up until the other vessel was 

badly damaged, many of her crew being killed and wounded. 



5 2 



THE YANKEE NAVY 



The next morning Commodore Rodgers discovered that she * 

was the British sloop-of-war Little Belt. A dispute afterwards r 

arose as to who fired the first shot, and the whole matter was ' 

eventually dropped, but there can be no doubt as to what ■ 

i 




Isaac Hull. 

would have happened if the Little Belt had been a superior 
ship. 

Not many months after this it happened that Captain 
Isaac Hull was called upon to assert his independence in the 
harbor of Portsmouth, England. The Constitution, with Cap- 
tain Hull commanding, had been dispatched to Holland to 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 53 

pay that country the interest on our debt, and she proceeded 
from thence to Portsmouth, where there was stationed a large 
force of English frigates. Captain Hull was ashore one night, 
and the Constitution was in command of First Lieutenant 
Charles Morris, when he was informed by an officer from the 
British man-o'-war Havana that an American deserter was 
aboard that vessel, and might be had upon application. Cap- 
tain Hull being away, Lieutenant Morris made efforts to get 
the deserter back. The next day he applied to the Com- 
mander of the Havana, and then to the British Admiral, but 
was met with frigidity and innuendoes. While this was 
happening a stroke of good fortune enabled Lieutenant 
Morris to turn the tables. One night a deserter from the 
Havana, with a rich Irish brogue, came aboard the Constitution. 
This enabled Lieutenant Morris to employ the same tactics 
that the British officer had used with him. He sent word to 
the Havana that he had a deserter, and then promptly refused 
to give him up. Here was a state of things at once. The Con- 
stitution was practically at the mercy of the British squadron. 

Signals were rapidly made from the British flagship. Two 
frigates anchored close to the Constitution. Captain Hull then 
came aboard, the crew was sent to quarters and she put out 
to sea, followed by the two frigates. Then the Constitution 
was hove to and waited for one of them to come up. There 
was great excitement on board. The men w T ere stripped for 
action. The frigate rapidly came within hail, and, to the 
surprise of all on board the Constitution, hailed her, exchanged 
a few remarks, and bore away. Thus Captain Hull had to 
wait for another opportunity to show the power of his ship. 

War was formally declared on June 18, 1812, and the first 



54 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

battle was not encouraging. A few days after, Commodore 
Rodgers put to sea in the President, accompanied by the 
United States, the Congress, the Hornet, and- the Argus, and 
had his unfortunate fight with the Belvidera, which caused 
more dissatisfaction than ever. The President sighted the 
Belvidera off Nantucket, and drawing away from the rest of 
the fleet, chased that vessel unsuccessfully. During the , 
engagement one of the President's guns burst, killing sixteen 
men. The Belvidera escaped, and the American squadron 
continued on a long cruise, returning to port on August 
29th, without accomplishing anything. This was a bad 
beginning, and the effect on Congress and the country at 
large very dispiriting. Our little navy had been decried 
often enough in the halls of Congress, and timid legislators 
inveighed against the policy of allowing our ships to put to 
sea in the face of so formidable and hitherto invincible 
enemy. But subsequent events proved that we were always 
able to hold our own and in many instances to whip forces 
greatly superior, opposed to us on the ocean. 

The Constitution, with a new crew, sailed from the Chesa- 
peake on July 12, 1812, and on the 17th began that famous 
chase which showed Isaac Hull's great ability. Heading up 
along the coast, he sighted a British squadron, which 
attempted to close in on him. For three days and nights the 
enemy were close in his wake, and every device to make a 
ship move through water was tried by Hull and immediately 
imitated by the British frigates. Among them was the 
Guerriere, that the Constitution met later on under different 
conditions. The Constitution was towed by boats, kedged, 
and her sails soused with water, and thus inch by inch was 






56 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

contested, until finally, availing herself of a favorable squall, 
she slipped away from her pursuers. 

The British captains did not recover for many a long day ' 
from their surprise and chagrin over the manner in which 
the Constitution — which they had referred to as a " fir-built 
Yankee frigate, flying a piece of striped bunting at her 
masthead " — finally got away from them. 

Captain Hull, after his escape from the British squadron, 
put into Boston, and it began to look as if the imbecility of 
Congress would prevent him from going to sea again. He 
was instructed to wait orders, but this was not to his fancy. 
He wanted to meet Dacres of the Guerrihre. Dacres was 
also anxious to run across Hull. Before the war they had 
both met at an entertainment. In joking about the prob- 
ability of a war, Hull said: "Well, Dacres, take good care 
of your ship if I ever run alongside of her when she is alone." 

" Look here, Hull," replied Dacres, "would you like to bet 
money on the outcome ?" 

" No," said Hull, " I don't care to bet money, but I'll go a 
hat." 

" Done ! " said Dacres. 

Hull was therefore anxious to bring about a result, and 
taking matters into his own hands, he sailed out of Boston 
Harbor on August 2d. He cruised south of Cape Sable, then 
east of Halifax, around Nova Scotia to the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, taking a few prizes, and then south again. On 
August 19th he sighted a British frigate. 

" Good ! " said Hull. " I hope it's Dacres." 

The frigate hoisted the British colors, and the two vessels 
drew near, when the enemy opened fire. 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 57 

" Shall we return the fire ? " asked Lieutenant Morris. 

" Not yet," said Hull. 

The Constitution then bore upon the stranger's quarter. 

" Let her have it ! " shouted Hull. 

So excited was that able Commander that he jumped up 
and down on the quarterdeck, and his trousers being a tight 
fit, he split them up the side. 

" If that's Dacres," he muttered to himself, " I wish I 
I had bet him a whole uniform." 

The fire between the two frigates was now terrific. 

" Hull her ! " sang out Lieutenant Morris. 

In their excitement the crew, not yet so far separated from 
I old England that they didn't know a pun, repeated the cry, 
" Hull her ! " 

In fifteen minutes the enemy's mizzenmast went, in a few 
minutes more the foremast and mainmast followed, and the 
Guerricre was a hopeless wreck, having been raked fore and 
aft by the terrible fire of the Constitution s guns. The Con- 
stitution then hauled off for repairs, and, when they were 
made, prepared to continue the action ; but the British 
colors came down just in time. 

Third Lieutenant Read got in a boat and ran up along- 
side the Guerricre, for then there was no doubt as to her 
identity. Dacres poked his head over the after-bulwarks. 

" Captain Hull's compliments to Captain Dacres," shouted 
Read. " Have you struck ? " 

" Well," replied Dacres, " our mizzenmast, foremast and 
mainmast have gone. We're not in good condition to con- 
tinue." 

" Have you struck ?" asked Read again. 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



59 



I — don't — know," said Dacres. " I — " 

You'd better made up your mind pretty quick," roared 




" I'll trouble you for that hat." 



Read. " This is no time for parley. I ask you again if you 
have surrendered." 

" Well," replied Dacres, " I suppose I have." 



60 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

"All right," said Read. "Do you need a surgeon ?" 

"Don't you need him yourself?" 

"Why, no," replied Read. " We have only seven wounded, i 
and they've been attended to." 

Captain Dacres was wounded himself, but he was trans- 
ferred to the Constitution. 

" Let me help you, Dacres," said Hull, as he came over the 
gangway ; " you're hurt." 

" Thank you," said Dacres, despondently. " Here's my 
sword." 

"Keep it," said Hull ; "you deserve to keep it ; but I'll 
trouble you for that hat." r 

In this action the Constitution was somewhat superior toj 
the Guerriere, but there is no comparison between the force, 
of the two vessels and the amount of damage inflicted. The^ 
Guerriere was so badly shattered that she had to be blown up, 
while the Constitution was practically unhurt. 

This victory on the part of the United States frigate was, 
due to three things : grit, gumption and gunnery. 

Nothing could exceed the universal joy over Hull's victory. 
Hitherto defeat had perched on our banners both by land 
and sea, but this showed that the war was not going to be 
altogether a one-sided affair. 



CHAPTER V. 



The War of 1812 — (Continued.) 

David Porter's First Cruise — Wasp and Frolic — United States and 
Macedonian — Constitution and Java — Capture of Chesapeake by 
Shannon — Career of Argus — Boxer and Enterprise. 



DAVID PORTER was commander of the Essex when the 
war broke out, and did not get to sea with the squadron 
under Rodgers that allowed the Belvidera to escape. But 
shortly before the Constitution took the Guerriere he did sail 
from New York, and, cruising at random, took several prizes. 
Then on August 13, 1812, he disguised the Essex as a merchant- 
man, and succeeded in fouling the English sloop Alert, so 
that vessel fell into his hands. 

And here we are introduced for the first time to David 
Glasgow Farragut, who, later, in the Civil War, was heard from 
with such great results. 

The Essex was crowded with prisoners from the Alert and 
other prizes captured, and a conspiracy was formed among 
them to capture her. 

But Captain Porter had been in the habit of training his 
crew to meet emergencies, and delighted to spread a sudden 
alarm of fire, to accustom them to act quick. 

Midshipman Farragut, feigning sleep, discovered the plot. 
He quietly notified Porter. Porter shouted " Fire ! " and the 

61 



62 



THK YANKEE NAVY, 



crevv responded in double-quick time. Then the prisoners 
were quickly secured. 

The Essex sent her prisoners to Halifax under parole, and 
succeeded in getting back to the Delaware. Later on she 
made a famous cruise, which will be referred to. 




Wasp" and "Frolic. 



It was great fun to beat the English at their own game 
on the high seas. No nation had ever done it before, and 
when the Constitution took the Guerricre John Bull opened his 
eyes ; but this was only a small beginning. 

In October, the sloop Wasp, 18 guns, commanded by 
Captain Jacob Jones, started out to pick up prizes from the 




Stephen Decatur. 



H 



6\ THE YANKEE NAVY. 

West Indies. In a heavy gale she sighted a fleet of merchant 
vessels protected by a sloop-of-war. 

Moreover, the sloop seemed anxious to fight. 

Jones gave her the opportunity, and it wasn't long before 
the superior gunnery of the Wasp's men disabled the enemy. 
She was rapidly dismantled, and, the two vessels fouling" 
each other, the crew of the Wasp boarded her, and found 
only one man on deck at the wheel, and a few officers who 
were left, and who promptly surrendered. The majority of 
her crew were killed or wounded. 

This vessel proved to be the British sloop Frolic, of 20 
guns. Shortly after the engagement, both vessels were taken 
by the British frigate Poicters. 

It was a grand victory, however, and proved that we could 
even capture British vessels superior in armament to our 
own. All on account of grit, gumption and gunnery. 

The capture of the Frolic was followed by a still more 
important victory. 

In October, Commodore Rodgers sailed from Boston with 
his squadron on a second cruise, in the President, in company 
with the United States and Argus. The United States soon 
parted company with the others, however, and stood off to 
the southward. This vessel was at that time commanded by 
Stephen Decatur, famous in the. war with Tripoli. 

On Sunday morning, October 25th, a strange sail was 
sighted. Decatur saw that she was an English frigate. 

" Here is my chance," said Decatur, and he called the crew 
to quarters. ; 

There was in the ship a boy who had been considered too 
small to be enrolled, but was allowed to accompany the ship. 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



65 



This boy now came aft, and attracted Captain Decatur's 
attention. 

" Well, what do you want ? " he asked. 

The boy, Jack Creamer by name, took off his hat. 
I " If you please, sir," he said, " I would like to be put on the 



muster roll." 




"United States" and "Macedonian." From an old print. 

'' What for ? " said Decatur. 

" So I can get my share of the prize money," responded 
Jack. So much for Yankee foresight. His request was 
granted. 

The two ships were now rapidly approaching each other. 
At first the stranger kept at long range, but the guns of the 



66 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

United States reaching him easily, he began to close up. Here 
was shown the good marksmanship of the Yankees, which, it 
may be remarked, we are as proud of to-day as we were then. 
It played havoc with the enemy's top hamper. The 
mizzenmast fell, and one of the American gunners remarked 
with a smile : ''We have made a brig of her." 

Decatur, standing near, heard him. 

" Try again," said he, "and she'll be a sloop." 

After nearly two hours' stiff fighting, the Macedonian, for 
such she proved to be, struck her colors. She was com- 
manded by Captain Carden, one of the most successful 
commanders in the English navy, and was admitted to be a 
fine frigate in every respect. She mounted 49 guns to the 
United States's 54, and had a much smaller crew. Her loss 
was 104 killed and wounded, that of the United States only 
12. Captain Carden firmly believed up to the last moment 
that he would win, such was British confidence. 

But he made the mistake of his life. 

Decatur got back to New York with his prize, and was 
greeted with the plaudits of the whole nation. Our poets 
were very much alive at that time. One of them wrote : 

" Bold Carden thought he had us tight, 

Just so did Dacres too, sirs, 
But brave Decatur put him right 

With Yankee doodle-doo, sirs. 
They thought they saw our ship in flame, 

Which made them all huzza, sirs, 
But when the second broadside came 

It made them hold their jaws, sirs." 

Not able poetry, but it conveyed the idea. 

At the precise hour in which 500 men were sitting down ' 
to a banquet at Gibson's City Hotel, New York, to celebrate 



i 



THE YANKEE NAVY 



6 7 



:j the victories of Isaac Hull and Stephen Decatur, another 
event was taking place off the coast of South America, which 
was to be celebrated in history to the discomfiture of the 
over-confident Briton. 

On the 26th of October, 181 2, Captain William Bainbridge 
set sail from Boston in the Constitution, accompanied by the 




Jas. Lawrence. 



Hornet, Master Commandant James Lawrence, to cruise in the 
West Indies. Two days before Captain Porter had sailed in 
the Essex, and it was the intention to have these three vessels 
meet later, and, by proceeding to the Indian Ocean, to cruise 
in the East Indies, and thus draw some of the English frigates 






68 THE YANKEE NAVY. 



away from our coast. This design, however, was not carried 
out, as the Constitution and the Hornet failed to meet the 
Essex at the appointed rendezvous. Porter proceeded on ' 
his own way, rounding the Horn into the Pacific. 

The Constitution and Hornet, after touching at Port Praya, 
proceeded to the coast of Brazil, and on December 13th the 
Hornet, with the Constitution discreetly out of sight, appeared 
off Bahia, St. Salvador, and, after vainly trying to induce a 
British sloop-of-war there, the Bonne Citoyenne, to come out 
and give battle, blockaded that vessel, her captain being not ? 
so ready to engage an American vessel of about the same 
weight as the boasts of the British might lead one to believe. 

The Constitution, then leaving the Hornet off Bahia, proceeded I 
to sea, and on December 29th ran across the English frigate 
Java. 

It was a one-sided affair from the start. It took the 
Constitution about two hours to make a wreck of the enemy, 
and it was a good job and well done. Indeed, she was so 
badly damaged that the next day she had to be blown up. 

On board the Java were Lieutenant-General Thomas \ 
Hislop, recently appointed Governor of India, and some extra 
British naval officers. Her captain (Lambert) died shortly 
after from his injuries. 

Bainbridge sailed for Boston with the news of his victory, 
arriving there on February 27th, and it is needless to say that 
he got a lively reception. Fifty thousand dollars were voted 
by Congress to the officers and crew. 

In commenting on these successive victories, the London 
Times had occasion to remark : " Oh, what a charm is hereby 
dissolved !" 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 69 

One of our poets sang : 

" Come, lads, draw near, and you shall hear, 

In truth as chaste as Dian, O ! 
How Bainbridge, true, and his bold crew 

Again have trained the lion, O ! 
'Twas off Brazil he got the pill 

Which made him cry, Peccavi, O ! 
But hours two the Java, new, 

Maintained the battle bravely, ! " 

Etc. 

Nearly a year of war and not an American frigate had 
struck ! 

Grit, gumption, and gunnery ! 

In the meantime, Lawrence, in the Hortiet, had remained 
at Bahia until he was chased by an English frigate, and, 
making off, he came across the English sloop-of-war Peacock, 
and made short work of her, the engagement lasting about 
fifteen minutes. She then returned to New York (in March, 
1813), and they had another celebration. 

Of course, after these brilliant victories, it was necessary 
to have one disaster. The Chesapeake, unlucky from the time 
she was launched, was the victim. She was in Boston in May, 
and Captain Lawrence, her commander, decided to go out and 
meet the English Shannon, Captain Broke, who was cruising 
around outside, daring an American vessel to meet him. 

On the 1 st of June, Lawrence sailed out in the Chesapeake 
with a raw crew and met his fate. 

Early in the fight he was wounded and carried below to 
die; but his last words, "Don't give up the ship!" are a 
battle-cry even to this day. 

In this action it is well to observe that the usual conditions 
were reversed. In every American naval victory our success 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 71 

has been due to the high state of discipline and the extra- 
ordinary regard paid to gun practice. Captain Broke of the 
Shannon had studiously employed these methods. His crew 
was not only well trained, but they had been practiced 
frequently at the guns. On the contrary, the Chesapeake, ill- 
fated from the start, had only just shipped a new crew, most 
of them inefficient and landlubberly. 

The Shannon took the Chesapeake into Halifax harbor amid 
British rejoicings, and correspondent American despondency. 

Shortly after this happened, the sloop-of-war Argus, under 
Lieutenant Commander Allen, sailed for British waters with 
the intention of repeating the exploits of John Paul Jones. 
After destroying twenty British merchantmen, the Argus 
captured a ship loaded with wine. Alas ! It was too much 
for the crew. While they were in a condition of partial 
intoxication, the Argus was taken by the English Pelican. 
Allen died the next day, and on August 21, 1813, he was 
buried at Plymouth. 

There was a compensation for this loss, however, in the 
capture of the Boxer (Blyth) by the Enterprise (Burrows), on 
September 4th. Both commanders were killed in this action, 
and their remains are in Portland, Me. 

These vessels were equally matched, and the American 
victory was a source of great mortification to British minds. 



CHAPTER VI. 



The War of 1812 — (Continued.) 

Lieutenant Woolsey at Sackett's Harbor — Perry and Chauncey — On ' 
Lake Ontario — Battle of Lake Erie — Perry's Great Victory 
— On Lake Champlain — Thomas MacDonough — An Attempt 
that Failed. 



WHILE our navy was gaining laurels on the ocean, 
events were happening on the great lakes. On July 
30, 1S12, Lieutenant Melancthon Woolsey, at Sackett's Harbor, 
Lake Ontario, was in charge of the entire American force on 
that lake. It consisted of the brig Oneida, and the British 
came after it with a squadron of five armed vessels. 

It would be an easy matter, thought the British, to run 
into Sackett's Harbor and capture the Oneida. Word was sent 
ashore that if she were given up, the town itself would be 
mercifully spared. 

Woolsey thought differently. 

He stationed the Oneida at the entrance to the harbor, 
where her broadside would bear on the enemy, and removed 
the remaining guns to the shore, forming them into a battery. 

While these preparations were being made, it was discovered 
that on the shore nearby was an old thirty-two-pound gun, 
that had been lying there for years, covered with rust. It had 
wallowed so long that it had been nicknamed "The Sow." 

Woolsey got this gun up and placed it in the battery. 

72 






THE YANKEE NAVY. 



73 



"We haven't any shot to fit it, sir," said one of his men. 

"Never mind," said Woolsey, "take some twenty-four- 
pound shot and wrap some old carpet around them, and let 
her go." 

This is why the American always has the weather gauge 




Oliver Hazard Perrt. 



over others. He uses his brains to accomplish the best result, 
regardless of custom or tradition. 

Amid the jeers on the British vessels, Royal George and 
Prince Regent, now rapidly approaching, the "old sow" was 
loaded and fired. 



74 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

At this moment a thirty-two-pound shot from the Roxal 
George came over the embankment, and bounded along until 
it was caught by Sergeant Spier. 

It was just what was most needed. 

" Here we are ! " said Spier. " I've caught 'em out, and ., 
now I'll give it back to 'em. One good turn deserves another." 

So saying, he rammed it into the " old sow," and, 
taking deliberate aim, let fly. At this moment the Royal 
George happened to be wearing to bring her broadside on. 
The shot struck her stern, and raked her fore and aft. It 
killed fourteen men and wounded eighteen. 

That was enough. The British squadron put about and 
sailed away, while the boys on shore struck up "Yankee 
Doodle." 

This was the "opening gun " on the great lakes, and there 
were lively times there up to the close of the war in 1815. 

On Washington's birthday, 181 2, two men set out from 
Albany to the lakes. They were Master Commandant Oliver 
Hazard Perry and Captain Isaac Chauncey. 

These men were to create ships of war out of trees that 
lined the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario. They were to 
rely upon guns and men wherever they could be picked up or ' 
sent through a trackless wilderness. Against them was an 
organized force of the enemy equipped with fleets, some 
already afloat, and others in the process of building. They * 
both went to Sackett's Harbor, prepared to defend that point 
against the enemy, and Perry stayed there with Chauncey for 
two weeks ; but the enemy's attack was postponed, and he ' 
started for the southern shore of Lake Erie, to begin his work 
there — a work that we are enjoying the fruits of to this day. 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 75 

What Chauncey accomplished on Lake Ontario up to the 
close of the war is too long a story to be told in detail. On 
August 31, 1812, he was given command of operations on all 
the great lakes, but his own active part in the war was confined 
to Lake Ontario. Opposed to him was Sir James Yeo, whose 
principal occupation while in command of the English squadron 




Sergeant Spier catching the British out. 



was dodging the enemy, and at this work he was a grand 
success. 

In 1813, on April 25th, Captain Chauncey took York (now 
Toronto). On May 27th, with Perry's assistance, he took 
Fort George, and on October 5th captured five gunboats 
filled with troops and released 200 American prisoners. A 
number of other engagements took place on Lake Ontario in 
1813 and 1814, but they were not important as affecting the 
final result. 



76 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

On the 10th of September, at half-past ten in the morning, . 
Oliver Hazard Perry stood on the deck of the brig Lawrence, " 
the flagship of his squadron, and unfolded a blue battle-flag. ) 
Turning to the crew, who were ranged in front of him, he said : - % 
" Boys, this flag has on it the words of James Lawrence, ' Don't 
give up the ship ! ' Shall I hoist it ? " 

"Ay, ay, sir!" came from a hundred throats, and up it" 
went to the royal masthead. 

The enemy's fleet was in sight. There were six vessels " 
in all, commanded by Robert Barclay, who had been wounded 
under Nelson at Trafalgar. The American fleet consisted of 
nine vessels, the brigs Lawrence, Niagara and Caledonia, the 
schooners Ariel, Tigress, Porcupine, Scorpion and Somers, and 
the sloop Trippe — in all fifty-four guns and 490 men. The 
British squadron consisted of the flagship Detroit, the ship 
Queen Charlotte, the brigs Lady Prevost and Hunter, the schooner 
Chippewa and the schooner Little Belt — sixty-three guns and 
502 men. Nearly 200 of Perry's men, however, were sick and 
unable to fight. 

As the youthful Commander stood on the deck of his little 

brig, his mind reverted to the events of the preceding year. 

In the face of immense odds, he had succeeded in getting his 

little fleet together at Erie. Then, when two of his vessels 

were built, he was unable to get them out into the lake, as they 

drew too much water, his necessities compelling him to float 

them over with barges. Then he had no men to man them. 

Then he was taken sick with lake fever, and in Jury, in this 

condition, he had written to Chauncey : 

The enemy's fleet are now off the bar. . . . Conceive my feel- 
ings. An enemy within striking distance, my vessels ready, and not 
men enough to man them ! 




O =3 
<X> - 



78 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

In the meantime the enemy had sailed away to Maiden, 
and Perry, finally succeeding in getting crews, had followed, 
and his fleet, stationed at Put-in Bay, waited for the British. 
Now they were in sight, and his opportunity had come. He 
walked around by the guns and encouraged his men. 

" Are you ready, boys ? " he asked in turn. 

"All ready, sir," was the cheerful reply. 

Then the battle began. 

Perry, in the Lawrence, soon found himself in the midst of 
it, and his other vessels having lagged behind, his ship bore 
the brunt of the enemy's fire. It was an uneven fight for a 
time, with three to one against him, so Perry made up his 
mind to leave his flagship and take chances in getting to the 
Niagara. Shielded somewhat by the smoke, he jumped into a 
boat, and, rowed by four men, accompanied by his fourteen- 
year-old brother, and bearing his pennant and battle-flag, he 
shoved off. 

That was a great sculling match for Perry and his crew. 

The British knew if they could pick him off they would 
win. One of the British gunners aimed so well that he put a 
hole through the boat, and Perry promptly took off his coat 
and stopped it up. 

From the moment he reached the Niagara the day was 
won. Two of the enemy's ships — the Queen Charlotte arid 
Detroit — ran foul of each other, and Perry raked them fore 
and aft. In a short time they were all hors de combat, and 
surrendered. 

The Lawrence in the meantime had been obliged to haul 
down her flag, and had drifted to leeward. Perry went back | 
to her, hoisted it again, and prepared to receive his prisoners. 



8o 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



He had on an old suit during the engagement (in spite 
of the pictures to the contrary), and looked more like a 
farmer than a naval hero. 

But now he put on his uniform, and the British officers 
came on board and gave up. 




Perry's Victory. 



From, an old print. 



And then Perry took an old letter from his pocket, and 
wrote on it in pencil to General William Henry Harrison : 

We have met the enemy and they are ours — two ships, two brigs, 
one schooner and one sloop. 

Yours, with great respect and esteem, 

O. H. Perry. 

The British had intended, after making themselves masters 
on the lakes, to push on and cut off the West from the East, 



82 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

from Lake Erie down to New Orleans. But Perry blocked 
their little game. 

What he did, however, is extraordinary only from other 
standpoints than the Yankee. There were any number of 
officers in the navy at that time who would have accomplished 
the same result. 

Perry was American, uncongressional in his methods, and 
did things. When he was at Erie the British squadron 
blockaded him and prevented him from getting his two brigs 
over the bar. But one day Barclay got an invitation to dinner 
at another point on the lake, and sailed away to eat it. Perry 
seized his opportunity and floated his vessels. That is what 
the other side calls luck. It is in reality eternal vigilance, 
which, added to grit, gumption and gunnery, make the 
average American naval hero. 

It remained for Thomas MacDonough to put the finishing 
touches to the British on Lake Champlain. This young man 
was one of the heroes of the expedition that had succeeded 
in burning the Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, and he 
was well qualified for his task. 

His famous battle off Plattsburg took place just a year 
and a day later than Perry's great victory. 

The English, having practically lost control of Lakes 
Ontario and Erie, made great preparations to capture Lake 
Champlain, and Sir James Yeo sent Captain Downie with a 
squadron to obtain possession. 

Sir George Provost was also sent with a force of 15,000 
men to take Plattsburg, which was defended by about 3,000 
Americans. 

MacDonough, after the usual delays and discouragements, 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



83 



finally succeeded in building a fleet to repel the enemy's 
attack, and on September 11, 1814, in his flagship the 
Saratoga, he lay off Plattsburg with three other vessels and 
ten galleys. 

Downie, in his flagship Confianct, with two other vessels 
and twelve gunboats, appeared in sight at 8 a. m. 




T. MacDonough. 



It is unnecessary to state that the British force was 
superior to ours, not only in guns, but in men, and the result 
was what might have been expected. 

The battle was decided by the two flagships. 

As the Confiance approached, MacDonough kneeled on the 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



85 



Saratoga's deck and took careful aim with a twenty-four 
pounder. The shot raked the Confiance. Almost at this 
moment a cock on the Saratoga's deck was released from his 
coop by a shot from the enemy. He flew up on one of the 
guns and crowed with all his might. This incident inspired 
the men, and they went at it hammer and tongs. 




Battle of Lake Champlain. — From the land 



js -■■■■■. 



The day was won, however, not so much by pure bravery, 
as by MacDonough's seamanship and foresight. 

These qualities have won more of our battles than any- 
thing else. See Hull, Decatur, Bainbridge, Truxton, Porter, 
Farragut, Dewey and Sampson. 

MacDonough not only carefully arranged his line of battle, 
'but he provided kedges in advance, so that if the Saratoga 




86 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

should lose the use of her starboard broadside, he could swing 
her around and bring her port broadside to bear. 

The enemy's fire was so hot that this is precisely what 
happened, and then at the critical moment MacDonough, by 
the use of a stream anchor and hawser, brought the Saratoga 
around, and poured in such a deadly fire that the enemy was I 
quickly brought to terms. The British ship tried to follow 
his example, but her Commander had not thought far enough ' 
ahead. 

The result was a complete victory, and the possession of 
Lake Champlain. Sir George Provost, who at the same time 
attacked Plattsburg with his 15,000 men, was compelled 
to retreat, and MacDonough became, at one bound, one of the 
most prominent naval commanders of the time. 

Although the British attempted after this to regain what . 
they lost, they did not succeed, and early the next year peace 
was declared. 



CHAPTER VIT. 



The War of 1812 — (Continued.) 

Porter's Cruise in the Essex— Young Farragut and the Pig — Rodgers 
and Hutchinson • — Minor Engagements — Career of the Wasp 
and Her Disappearance — The Constitution, Levant and Cyane — 
Last Shot of the War — Once More the Dey of Algiers — Decatur 
before Tunis, 1815-1861 — Minor Exploits. 



DAVID PORTER sailed in the Essex from the Delaware 
on October 28, 1812, and did not return until July, 
'1814. Moreover, he did not bring his ship with him, but he 
'did bring a large slice of imperishable glory, which was 
added to later on by his descendants. 

The Essex had been ordered to join the Constitution and 
Hornet, but not meeting them in the South Atlantic, he was 
instructed to use his own judgment. This he proceeded to 
do, and made up his mind to go off on his own hook. 

So he started around Cape Horn into the Pacific, and 
until March, 1814, when the Essex was finally destroyed by 
two English men-o'-war sent out for that express purpose, 
Porter cruised, supplying his men and ship from the prizes he 
captured. He captured whale ships, privateers, and prac- 
tically every English vessel he came across, until on the 19th 
of June, 1813, he entered the harbor of Guayaquil and found 
himself in possession of a squadron of nine vessels, all armed 
and flying the American flag. 

87 



88 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

I 

One of the midshipmen on Porter's ship was a youngster 
of twelve. His name was Farragut. He was afterwards an 
Admiral, as everyone knows. Porter was so burdened with 
prizes that he determined to send some of them to Valparaiso, 
and young Farragut was placed in charge of one of them. • 
But this didn't happen by act of Congress. 

Soon after this Porter sailed for the Marquesas Islands, 
and made Nooaheeva his headquarters until February, 1814, 
when he sailed for Valparaiso. 

He had some difficulty in getting away from the Islands 
with his crew, who had become enamored of the dusky female 
inhabitants. But he finally succeeded, and the Essex sailed 
away to the tune of "The Girl I Left Behind Me." 

At Valparaiso he was blockaded by two English men-o'- * 
war, the Phivbe and the Cherub. 

The Essex attempted to run the blockade, and would proba" 
bly have got away if it had not been for an untimely squall, 
and she was disabled and compelled to seek safety in a bay. 
Here a desperate fight ensued, and the Essex, after a gallant 
defense, was compelled to surrender. 

When the crew of the Phoebe came on board to take 
possession they found on her a pig named "Murphy," and 
one of the sailors brought her on board the Phoebe in triumph. 

"That pig belongs to me," said young Farragut. 

"Go on with you," said the sailor. "You are a prisoner, 
and so is the pig." 

" This is private property," replied Farragut. 

Whereupon a ring was formed, and the thirteen-year-old 
American boy and the English sailor went at it. 

A desperate encounter ensued, but Farragut, although 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



89 



only a boy, succeeded in whipping his adversary and bore the 

pig off in triumph. 

Porter and the remainder of his crew, now prisoners of 
I war, were sent to the United States in a cartel-ship, and after 
u. many adventures he arrived home in July, 1814, bringing the 

story of his cruise. "We have been unfortunate," wrote 

Porter, "but not disgraced." 




■' The thirteen-year-old American boy and the English sailor went at it "' 

The value of the prizes Porter took on his cruise amounted 
to millions of dollars. He was thereafter hailed as the " Hero 
of the Pacific." 

Somewhat similar to Porter's cruise, but on a much 
smaller scale, was the cruise of Commodore Rodgers in the 
President, during the summer of 1813. 

After sailing towards the West Indies and meeting with no 
luck, the President headed up into the North Sea, sailed near the 



9° 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



Shetland Islands, put into Norway, and failing to get supplies, 
Rodgers began to capture prizes and replenish his stores. 




David Porter. 



Lieutenant Hutchinson, commanding the English High 
Fixer, tender to the English ship of the line San Domingo, had 
been especially warned to beware of Rodgers. 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 91 

Hutchinson himself was a trifle uneasy at the thought of 
meeting that astute Commodore, for it was only a short time 
before that he had appeared at Havre de Grace, Rodgers's 
home, plundered it, and actually stolen a sword from the 
Commodore's house. 

" If Rodgers gets hold of you," said Warren to Hutchinson, 
" he will carry you into Boston on the end of his jibboom." 

On the afternoon of September 23d, as Hutchinson was 
walking the quarter-deck of the High Flyer with the sword he 
had stolen clanking at his side, a strange vessel was sighted. 
The reason why Hutchinson didn't know it was the President 
was because Rodgers happened to know some of the English 
signals. Hutchinson hoisted a private signal and Rodgers 
promptly replied, at the same time running up the British 
ensign. Then Rodgers put a British uniform on one of his 
officers and sent him aboard the High Flyer, deceiving Hutch- 
inson so that the officer was soon in possession of the whole 
code. He was told that the other vessel was the Sea Horse 
and induced to come on board, where he greeted Rodgers 
as a brother, and told him about the President and how much 
she was wanted. 

"They say," said Hutchinson, "that Rodgers is an odd 
fish, and slips through one's fingers." 

u I imagine so," replied Rodgers. " I suppose you would 
like to meet him." 

"Wouldn't I!" exclaimed Hutchinson; "that is," he 
added, thoughtfully, "in a vessel of equal size." 

"You shall have the pleasure," said Rodgers. " Do you 
know what vessel this is?" 

" Why, the Sea Horse, of course," said Hutchinson. 



9 2 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



"It happens to be the United States rigate President" 
chuckled the wily Commodore, "and I, j "<>mmodore 

Rodgers." 

Then the band played " Yankee Do 




' I, sir, am Commodore Rodgers : " 



Hutchinson was well treated by Rodgers, and three days 
afterwards the President and her prize reached Newport. 

During the year 1814, and early in 1815, a number of 
minor engagements took place between our ships and the 
English, and the blockade which England endeavored to 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



^3 



establish along our entire coast was provocative of many 
battles and much loss of property, the British not hesitating 
to plunder where they had an opportunity. In July, the 
John Adams was burned on the Penobscot. Shortly before 
this the new sloop-of-war Wasp, under Captain Johnston 




Johnston Blakely. 



Blakely, appeared in the English channel, created much 
excitement, and captured the British sloop Reindeer. This 
action lasted only thirty minutes, and on his return Blakely 
was presented by Congress with a gold medal. 



94 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

In August he went on another cruise in the Wasp, took 
the Avon, which the approach of three other vessels compelled 
him to abandon, and captured and scuttled the Three 
Brothers, took the Bacchus, and on September 12th took the 
eight-gun Atlanta. The Atlanta was placed in charge of 
Midshipman David Geisinger, who arrived in October at 
Savannah, and reported the various victories of the Wasp. 
From that day to this, however, the Wasp has never been 
heard from. Whether she foundered at sea, or the precise 
manner of her disappearance, is one of the mysteries of the 
deep. 

In April, 1814, Captain Warrington, in the eighteen-gun 
Peacock, captured the English brig Epervier, and, though 
chased by two English frigates, escaped with his prize. 
Early in 1815 the President was taken by an English squadron. 
In March, 1815, Captain James Biddle, in the Hornet, captured 
the eighteen-gun Penguin in just twenty minutes. This was 
considered one of the most brilliant minor engagements of 
the war. 

But one of the most glorious battles at sea took place 
after peace had been declared. 

Captain Charles Stewart commanded the Constitution in 
1814-15, and on February 20, 1815, when off St. Vincent, he 
gave chase to a strange sail. Soon after he sighted a second. 

Running up to both vessels, the Constitution engaged 
them together, and, securing an advantageous position, made 
things so lively that in a short time one of them — the Cyane — 
struck. 

The other vessel — the Levant — had retired, but Stewart 
now went after her, and captured her also. 



96 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

Combined, the two were easily superior to the Constitution. 

The last shot of the War of 181 2 was fired from the Peacock, 
when she captured the Nautilus in the Straits of Sunda, on 
June 30, 1815. The Nautilus was also the first vessel taken 
in the war, having been captured by the British soon after 
hostilities began. 

The British Minister had informed the Dey of Algiers 
that the American Navy, which had proved so disastrous to 
his country's piratical aspirations, would be swept off the 
ocean by John Bull in the second war for our independence. 
John Bull had, furthermore, assisted the Dey in acquiring an 
effective navy, by sending him guns and ammunition ; and 
the Dey, relying upon the statement, immediately renewed 
hostilities, and while our navy was engaged with England 
he lost no means of making it unpleasant for us. 

When, therefore, in the summer of 1815, the American 
squadron appeared before Algiers, and with it three vessels 
— the Guerriere, the Cyane and the Epervier — which had been 
captured from England and now waved the American 
flag, that potentate was greatly surprised. When, also, he 
was informed that the Algerian flagship, the Mashonda, and 
another vessel, had already been captured by the Americans 
only a few days before, his surprise grew. 

Likewise, when he was notified by Captain Stephen Decatur 
that all the other vessels in his navy might also be captured 
and Algiers itself subjected to much unpleasantness, his 
surprise knew no bounds. He immediately backed water, 
and agreed to everything that Decatur demanded. 

Decatur then appeared before Tunis and Tripoli and 
accomplished the same result, and although shortly afterward 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 97 

it became necessary for Oliver Hazard Perry to appear with 
another squadron in the Mediterranean and emphasize our 
attitude toward the three rulers, this practically settled the 
matter, and the presence of a small squadron was enough to 
keep peace with these barbarians. 

From the close of the second war with England to the 
Civil War, our navy was engaged in many minor exploits 
in various parts of the world, and there were many brilliant 
instances of bravery recorded. In the extermination of the 
pirates from the waters around the West Indies (1821-1825) 
the young Farragut received much of his naval experience. 
Captain David Porter was actively engaged in this warfare, 
and in the Foxardo affair in 1824 acted so aggressively with 
the authorities at that place that he was court-martialed, 
and resigned to enter the service of the Mexican Navy. He 
was afterwards appointed Consul-General to Algiers, and 
became later Minister to Turkey, where he died March 28, 
1843. In 1832 an effective lesson was given to the Malay town 
of Qualla Battoo, Sumatra, for treachery to one of our 
merchant vessels, and during the war with Mexico our 
vessels did most effective work on the Pacific coast and the 
coast of Mexico. 

Then, in 1853-4, occurred a triumph of diplomacy which 
could have only been so well done by an American naval 
officer. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry appeared at 
Tokio, Japan, with a squadron, and succeeded by immense 
tact in opening Japan to our trade. The Japanese had 
hitherto remained obstinate in their exclusion, but to Com- 
modore Perry's successful overtures they yielded, and the 



98 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

friendliness of that country to the United States to this day 
may be traced to the astute Perry. 

After this the navy was principally occupied in scientific 
expeditions, and had a long breathing spell, until it was 
called into service to fight some of the members of its own 
family. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The Civil War. 

Object of the North — Depleted Condition of the Navy — Loss of the 
Savannah and Petrel — Port Royal — The Merrimac and Monitor. 



THE Civil War takes us away from the open sea, and we 
leave those stirring encounters between frigates on 
the broad ocean, and have instead a continuous four-year 
effort on the part of the North to establish a blockade of 
the entire Atlantic and Gulf coast and the command of the 
Mississippi, and on the other side a continuous effort to 
prevent this from taking place. It did take place, however, 
as everyone knows, and the navy, in accomplishing this result, 
made it possible for the United States Constitution to continue 
to be issued in one volume and not two, as Jeff Davis fondly 
hoped. Previous to the opening of the war, our navy, in obedi- 
ence to Congress, had been reduced to a peace footing, which 
means that we practically had no navy at all. All vessels on 
which it would be necessary to spend twenty per cent, of their 
value in repairs were condemned. Hence it followed that in 
i860 we were reduced to a nonentity upon the sea. But upon 
the approach of hostilities the most extraordinary efforts were 
made, and the result proved that in swiftness of preparation 
the United States led the world. The first thing the Confed- 
erates did was to start out a number of privateers, and their 
blockade runners soon became extremely numerous. 



IOO THE YANKEE NAVY. 

Early in 1861 the Savannah and the Petrel were sent out 
by the Confederacy to do what harm they could, but they 
both speedily met with the same fate. The Savannah ran 
across the United States brig Perry and took her for a 
merchant vessel. She was captured and her crew held as 
pirates, but afterward paroled as prisoners of war. 

In July, 1861, the Petrel was ordered to sea by the Con- 
federate Government, and soon sighted a strange sail, which 
happened to be the United States frigate St. Lawrence. 

The Captain of the St. Lawrence, however, had taken the 
precaution to disguise his vessel as a merchantman, an old 
trick in our navy, and one which the Captain of the Petrel 
should have seen through. Believing her to be a rich prize, 
he ran up close, and when within range he was about to 
take an easy capture, when suddenly the appearance of the 
St. Lawrence changed. Her ports opened and three guns 
were let go. The Petrel was struck by an eight-inch shell 
and a thirty-two-pound shot, and in a few moments she was 
a total wreck and rapidly sank. These experiences made the 
privateers more careful. 

The object of the North was to gradually blockade all 
the Southern ports and prevent English blockade vessels from 
entering with supplies, and to accomplish this all the 
available vessels in the navy were brought into play. When 
the war opened this navy was scattered all over the world, 
and great exertions were made to get every available vessel in 
fighting trim. Even ferryboats were utilized, and some of 
them did good service. 

Among the first things done was to capture the two forts 
at the entrance of Hatteras inlet (July, 1861), and in October 



m. 



102 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

a powerful force sailed down the coast to reduce Port 
Royal. 

Commodore S. F. Dupont, who commanded the squadron 
that took Port Royal, arranged his ships at first in a straight 
line, and steaming past Fort Beauregard to his right, he 
turned beyond, and, describing a circle, came back past Fort 
Walker, his ships following, keeping this up until both forts 
surrendered. This was a glorious victory, and the North 
cheered up ; but in a few months more the Union was 
confronted by a formidable monster, and despondency reigned 
throughout the Northern States, until there occurred the 
famous battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac. 

In April, 1861, the United States vessels at the Norfolk 
Navy Yard had been destroyed to prevent their capture by 
the Confederates, and among these was the steam frigate 
Merrimac. She was raised, however, by the Confederates, and 
constructed into a terrible engine of destruction. On the 
8th of March, 1862, the Merrimac left Norfolk, steamed 
slowly down the Elizabeth River past Sewell's Point into the 
south channel, and, heading for Newport News, she began 
her work of destruction. Off Newport News were the United 
States frigate Congress and sloop Cumberland, and down in 
Hampton Roads lay the frigate St. Lawrence and the steam 
frigates Minnesota and Roanoke. The Merrimac opened with 
her guns on the Cumberland first, then rammed the Congress 
and then the Cumberland. The Cumberland began to sink 
but Lieutenant Morris on board refused to surrender. As 
the ship settled, the wounded were brought up on deck while 
the battle was being fought. The " no quarter " flag was 
hoisted, and the Cumberland sank, firing her guns at the 



104 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

Merrimac to the last. It was one of the most gallant defenses 
in our history. The Merrimac then turned her attention to 
the Congress, and after a desperate battle she was compelled 
to surrender. Lieutenant Smith, commanding the Congress, 
was killed early in the engagement. It is related that his 
father, Capt. Joseph Smith, was attending church in Wash- 
ington when he was informed of the loss of the Congress. 

" Then Joe is dead," exclaimed his father. 

In the meantime, the Minnesota, St. Lawrence and Roanoke 
endeavored to come to the assistance of the Congress, and all 
of them grounded in shoal water. They were at once attacked 
by the Merrimac, assisted by some light draught vessels, and in 
this precarious position we e subjected to a heavy fire until 
dark, when the Merrimac turned back up stream, with the in- 
tention of completing her work of destruction the next day. 

But the genius of one man prevented this. In October of 
the previous year, John Ericsson had begun the construction 
of his Monitor at New York. It seems remarkable that after 
the long years of study, delay and almost insurmountable 
obstacles to be overcome, Ericsson should have succeeded 
in getting his Monitor ready for action on the very day 
before the Merrimac created such havoc. It was not until 
the 4th of March that her guns were mounted, and on the 
6th she was on her way out of New York harbor in an 
unfinished condition, and in many minds a most doubtful 
experiment. She carried a volunteer crew of officers and 
men, and after a tempestuous voyage, in which she came near 
foundering, she appeared off Fort Monroe at 9 o'clock in the 
evening, only a few hours after the Merrimac had com- 
placently left the scene of her triumph. 



106 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

The next day was an eventful one in American history. 
A new idea had been hatched and was to be demonstrated. 
Two iron ovals were to be opposed to each other. The day 
of the wooden fighting ship had passed away. It was now 
iron versus iron, and the whole system of naval warfare was 
to be revolutionized. The crew of the Monitor were exhausted 
by their long fight with the elements. Nevertheless, they 
were possessed by that indomitable spirit that permeates 
the American sailor, and although in a hitherto untried 
engine, they remained undaunted. The next day was Sunday, 
but there was no time to rest. All night long they worked 
making repairs, and in the morning they steamed out to meet 
their hitherto invincible foe. The Monitor had a revolving 
turret that did not revolve with any ease. It would swing 
so rapidly that the gunners had to fire the guns on the fly, as 
it were, and although chalk marks were made on the floor 
inside to indicate which way the vessel was headed, these 
were soon obliterated, so that it was only through the narrow 
porthole above the guns that they could catch an occa- 
sional glimpse of outside objects. Once, indeed, they came 
near firing at their own pilot house. 

For two hours there was a battle the news of which 
went around the world. At the end of that time the Monitor s 
ammunition failed, and she retired, but her success in repuls- 
ing the Merrimac was undoubted. A few days later the 
Merrimac was blown up, and on the morning of December 
31st the Monitor sank on her way to Beaufort, N. C. In 
this famous action between the two ironclads, the Monitor 
was commanded by Lieutenant John Larimar Worden, and 
the Merrimac by Captain Franklin Buchanan. 



CHAPTER IX. 



The Civil War — (Continued.) 

On the Mississippi — Battle of New Orleans — Farragut Enters Mobile 
Bay — Lieutenant Cushing's Glorious Deed — The Alabama and 
Kearsarge — The Alabama Claims. 



IT is a long way from the good old wooden Constitution to the 
modern ironclad, and it is a stirring satisfaction to know 
that the leap was made by American invention. The Confed- 
erates seem to have put the idea into practice at first, and the 
Yankees quickly followed and produced better boats. 

When the war broke out in i86t there were numerous 
steamers plying the Mississippi and its tributaries, and these 
were quickly utilized. They were covered with sheet-iron 
and made to do service as gunboats, and very effective they 
proved to be. Then began the conflict for the control of the 
river, which the Confederates quickly fortified from below 
Cairo down to it? mouth. Little by little they were obliged 
to give w r ay, with Farragut pushing up from the south and 
Foote pushing down from the north, until finally Vicksburg 
was captured and the " backbone of the Rebellion " was broken. 

In this warfare between paddle-wheel steamers covered 
with iron our naval officers gained a lot of valuable experience, 
which is operative even to this day. Our own Dewey learned 
a great many things during this war, and not the least was 

107 



IIO THE YANKEE NAVY. 

when he was on the United States steamer Mississippi at the 
battle of New Orleans. 

In order to gain control of the Mississippi and to blockade 
the Gulf ports, it was necessary to capture New Orleans, and 
this task was given to Farragut. 

How he accomplished his purpose is an old story, but to 
run the formidable batteries of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 
to say nothing of encountering the various rams and the 
fleet of gunboats the Confederates had gathered together, was 
something of a new idea in naval tactics. 

The thing was done at night, and as a pyrotechnic display 
it is said to have no equal. As Farragut's flagship, the 
Hartford, followed by the Richmond, Brooklyn, Pensacola, 
Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, and other ships of his fleet, passed 
the forts, shot and shell rained down on them, fireships 
floated down to meet them, and it was literally a hot time 
that night on the Father of Waters. 

George Dewey, who later gained such laurels in the 
Pacific, as he stood on the deck of the Mississippi, witnessed 
the fate of the formidable ram Manassas, which came near 
making an end of the Mississippi. 

The Manassas suddenly shot through the darkness and 
struck the Mississippi on her port quarter, and in return she 
received a broadside and steamed down the river, where she 
ran into the Brooklyn. Then the Mississippi encountered her 
again, and she ran ashore. 

This was on April 24th, and the next day Farragut anchored 
in front of New Orleans. In July he captured Port Hudson, 
and the Mississippi was under control of the Union forces. 
Later on Farragut captured Mobile and damned the torpedoes. 



THE YANKEE NAVY. Ill 

Resuming command of the Gulf squadron, in January, 
1864, he determined to enter Mobile Bay, and made his 
preparations accordingly. With a squadron of twenty-one 
wooden vessels and four ironclads he made ready for the 
attempt, and on the 5th of August he succeeded. In the 
rigging of his flagship Hartford Farragut stationed himself, 
and scorned to move out of danger. When told there were 
torpedoes ahead, he replied : " Damn the torpedoes ! Go 




The Battle of New Orleans. 

ahead !" Ahead of the Hartford, the Tecumseh had struck 
one of these deadly machines and had sunk, but Farragut 
did not stop. Once inside the bay he encountered the 
formidable ram Tennessee, but atter a desperate conflict, she 
was compelled to surrender, and Farragut's triumph was 
complete. 

Among the most daring exploits of the war was the 



THE YANKEE NAVY 



one performed by Lieutenant William Barker Cushing. The 
Confederates had, after great difficulty, completed the ram 
Albemarle at Edwards Ferry on the Roanoke River. This ram 
proved to be a source of great annoyance, and several 
attempts were made to destroy her, but Lieutenant Cushing 
has the imperishable glory of accomplishing this result. On 
the night of October 27, 1864, he set out in a picket boat, his 




A Mississippi Kiver Ironclad. 



intention being to land below the wharf where the Albemarle 
was moored, and board and capture her. In front he carried 
a spar with a torpedo on the end, in case he should be obliged 
to blow up the ram. As he approached the vessel he was 
discovered by a dog, who began to bark. Cushing, with his 
intrepid crew, made a dash for the ram, and right under the 
muzzle of her ten-inch gun he lowered his torpedo spar, 



THE YANKEE NAVY. II3 

and blew her up. At this instant the gun was fired, and 
the daring attackers found themselves in the water. Most of 
them were captured, but Cushing escaped by swimming away, 
and succeeded in getting back to the Union squadron. 
His success had been complete. 

Among the most famous privateers of the Civil War was 
the Alabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes. 
Fostered by the British Government, and built in the first 
place in England, she did a great deal of damage, and from 
her depredations on the high seas resulted the celebrated 
Alabama claims. On the 19th of June she was caught at 
Cherbourg by the Kearsarge and sunk. The Alabama went out 
to meet the Kearsarge, accompanied by an English yacht, 
confident of victory. The battle lasted about one hour and 
the Alabama was sunk by the Kearsarge. Semmes and his 
officers were picked up by the English yacht and taken to 
England. The arbitration tribunal appointed by the United 
States and Great Britain to settle the Alabama claims, 
declared that Great Britain owed the United States fifteen 
and one-half million of dollars, as a direct result of the 
damages inflicted by the Alabama during the Civil War. This 
was rather a costly experiment. 



CHAPTER X. 



War with Spain. 

The Affair of the Virginias — Attitude of Spain — Causes of the 
War — The New Navy — The Maine Disaster — Opening of the 
War — Battle of Manila — Hobson's Deed — Destruction of 
Cervera's Fleet. 



THE war with Spain might have taken place in 1873, and 
at one time it seemed as though this result was inevit- 
able. In the autumn of this year, the ship Virginius was off 
the Island of Jamaica. This vessel was registered on Sep- 
tember 26th in the New York Custom House, and flew the 
American flag. She carried a number of passengers, and 
also four prominent Cuban leaders, General Bernabe Varona, 
General Pedro Cespedes, Lieutenant-Colonel Jesus Del Sol, 
and General W. A. Ryan, a New Yorker. At that time the 
Spanish man-o'-war Tornado was cruising in West Indian 
waters On the 31st of October she intercepted the Virginius 
when that vessel was attempting to make a landing near 
Santiago de Cuba, and captured her. The passengers and 
crew were taken to Santiago de Cuba, and a few days after 
the four Cubans were taken out and shot. This in itself 
was enough to make trouble. A protest was at once filed 
with the Spanish Government, and the immediate release of 
the Virginius and her crew was demanded. President Castelar, 
then in charge of the Spanish Government, outdid himself 

114 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 115 

in polite rejoinders. His communications were couched in 
the most unctious language, and promises were made that 
the affair would at once be looked into, et ccetera. In the 
meantime, while Spain was dallying with our Secretary of 
State Fish, Captain Fry, of the Virginias, and thirty-six 
members of his crew, together with twelve of the ship's 
passengers, were led out and mercilessly slaughtered, by 
order of Captain-General De Rhodas. Of course, when 
President Castelar learned of this sad news, he was more 
polite than ever. He protested that he had sent an order 
to stay the proceedings, but that it had arrived too late. 
This excuse, however, was not sufficient to bring back to life 
the Americans who had been so ruthlessly slaughtered. 
Spanish restitution consists in specious promises made after 
the deed has been done. What was the result ? Simply this, 
that intense excitement prevailed throughout the country 
for a time, and that Spain, after backing and filling, finally 
released the remaining survivors of the Virginias, and the 
incident was closed. As a measure of conciliation, our 
Government at first demanded that Spain salute the American 
flag, but afterwards, it having been conceded by us that 
the Virginias had no right to fly our flag, this was not 
insisted upon. 

To many thoughtful persons it will seem to this day that 
this incident, not forgotten by Spain, had its effect upon the 
subsequent action of that country. The Spanish Government 
admitted that it was a mistake that the men of the Virginias 
should have been murdered. This admission was a practical 
confession of guilt. That it was possible, through any error 
in the machinery of government, to hurry two-score of men 



n6 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



into their graves, is bad enough in itself. But our subsequent 
submission so readily to the crime undoubtedly produced the 
belief in Spain that they might go to almost any length be- 
fore provoking us to actual resentment. It thus happened 
that up to April, 1898, when war was declared between the 
two countries, the Spanish Government could scarcely believe 
that such a result was probable. 

Up to the year 1881 our navy had been allowed to settle 
down into innocuous desuetude, so far as our own Govern- 
ment was concerned. 

After the Civil War, many of our ships were retired, and 
many were wrecked and not replaced. 




The Spanish Man-of-War Tornado chasing the American Steamer Virginiw. 



The result was, that in 1881 our navy was at its lowest 
ebb In this year some interest in its almost hopeless con- 
dition was awakened, and Secretary Hunt appointed a board 
to investigate its requirements. It was proposed to build 
a number of armored and unarmored vessels together with 
rams and torpedo boats, and the navy of to-day then had its 



THE YANKEE NAVY. II7 

birth. Among those who were most instrumental in pro- 
ducing this happy result was Secretary William C. Whitney. 

The Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and Dolphin having been con- 
structed, other vessels rapidly followed under Whitney, 
Benjamin Tracy and Hilary A. Herbert. 

Public interest and pride in the navy were aroused, and 
the appearance of the White Squadron produced the greatest 
enthusiasm. The splendid showing of our ships provoked 
universal applause, and the idea of a new navy became firmly 
fixed in the minds of the people. On March 15, 1889, when 
the Vandalia, Nipsic and Trenton were blown ashore in the 
harbor of Apia, the utmost consternation prevailed, and this 
disaster undoubtedly served to bind more closely the tie by 
which the people were bound to the navy. 

On March 16, 1898 — just nine years after — the entire nation 
was overwhelmed by the startling news that the battleship 
Maine (Captain Sigsbee) had been blown up the night previous 
in the harbor of Havana. Sigsbee's brief telegram that the 
public should suspend judgment was a masterly piece of 
diplomacy, and showed well the spirit of our navy. The 
Board of Inquiry appointed to investigate the disaster report- 
ed on March 28th that the cause was unknown. The univer- 
sal belief, however, was that the Maine had been deliberately 
blown up through Spanish treachery. The cry, "Remember 
the Maine!" was echoed everywhere. Congress voted 
$50,000,000, to be used at President McKinley's discretion, to 
prepare the country for war. On top of this came reports 
of the intolerable conditions prevailing in Cuba under Spanish 
rule. An ultimatum was sent to Spain that her rule in Cuba 
must cease, and on April 25th war was declared by Congress 



Il8 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

as having existed since April 21st, when Spain refused to 
accept the conditions laid down by the United States Govern- 
ment. The most extraordinary efforts were at once taken to 
place the navy on a war footing, and under the supervision 
of Secretary John D. Long and Assistant-Secretary Theodore 
Roosevelt, a great number of vessels was purchased by the 
Government and refitted with great rapidity. 

Captain William T. Sampson, appointed Rear Admiral, was 
placed in charge of the fleet, which was rapidly assembled at 
Key West. Commodore Winfield S. Schley was placed in 
charge of the flying squadron at Hampton Roads, in readiness 
to go out and meet the Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera, 
that was expected to sail across the Atlantic for the defense of 
Havana. 

At Hong Kong was the Asiatic fleet under command of 
Commodore George Dewey. This fleet consisted of the flag- 
ship Olympia, Raleigh, Baltimote, Boston, Monocacy, Concord and 
Petrel. The battleship Oregon, having been detached from 
the Asiatic fleet, was ordered to proceed around Cape Horn 
and join the Atlantic squadron. This remarkable voyage, 
the longest ever undertaken by a modern battleship, was 
accompanied without accident, and the safe arrival of the 
Oregon at Key West was the occasion of much rejoicing and 
many favorable comments from the Continental press. This 
feat did much to impress the nations of the world with the 
manifest superiority of our ships of war. As soon as the 
war opened Commodore Dewey proceeded from Hong Kong 
to Manila. On Sunday morning. May 1, 1898, Commodore 
Dewey entered the harbor of Manila at daybreak, taking the 
Spaniards by surprise. Inside the harbor was the Spanish 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



II 9 



fleet, the Reina Maria Cristina, the Castilla, the Don Juan de 
Austria , Don Antonio de Ultoa, Felaseo, General Lezo, Genera/ 
Elcano, Marques del Duero, Isla de Cuba and Isla de Mindanao. 
In this battle the American vessels were superior to those of 







f 


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^ff 






• 





t^ 










hjmSM 












^fer 


H 


< A 


L . : j 




LJ 



George Dewey. 



Spain, but on the other hand the Spanish ships were aided by 
the land batteries, and the fact that they were in their own 
harbor. By noon, Commodore Dewey had sunk or destroyed 



120 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

all the Spanish ships, and had silenced the batteries at Cavite, 

compelling them to surrender. The Spanish loss was nearly 

700. The most concise history of this battle, considered by 

many navy experts to be one of the most pronounced and 

perfect victories in naval history, is best told in Commodore 

Dewey's first report to his Government : 

Manila, May 1st. The squadron arrived at Manila at daybreak this 
morning. Immediately engaged enemy and destroyed the following 
Spanish vessels : Reina Crislina, Castilla, Ulloa, Isla de Cuba, General Lezo, 
Duero, Eicano, Veiasco, Mindanao, one transport, and one water battery 
at Cavite. The squadron is uninjured, and only a few men slightly 
wounded. 

The thanks of the nation were tendered to Commodore 
Dewey, and Congress promoted him to be Rear Admiral. 

The result of this great victory produced consternation in 
Spain, but it was to be followed by another one equally as 
great. Spain had despatched Admiral Cervera, with four of 
her finest and fastest warships and two torpedo destroyers, 
across the Atlantic to Cuba. For a time this fleet evaded the 
United States vessels in the Caribbean Sea. Commodore 
Schley, with his flying squadron, was ordered to join Admiral 
Sampson, and every effort was made to corner Cervera. 
Finally, on May 30th, the Spanish vessels were definitely 
located in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba. This harbor, 
like a bottle, has a narrow neck difficult of access, and on the 
4th of June Naval Constructor Richmond Pearson Hobson, 
having conceived the idea of blocking the mouth of the 
harbor, by sinking there a steam collier, the Merrimac, carried 
his plan into execution. With a crew of seven volunteers he 
took the Merrimac into the harbor, under a most terrific fire 
from the Spanish batteries, and sunk her in the narrow 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 



channel, escaping to the Spanish vessels, where he and his 
gallant crew were taken prisoners. Hobson's feat was one 
of the most daring ever attempted. There was still room, 
however, for the Spanish vessels to get out. On the morning 
of July 3rd, Cervera made his attempt to escape, our army 



r 


t 




mw± 








^*>A 




, 



W. T. Sampson. 



being in front of Santiago, with the strong probability that it 
would be invested in a few days. With his four ships and 
two torpedo destroyers, he steamed out of the harbor at full 
speed. Our sailors, however, were not caught napping. 



THE YANKEE NAVY 



Three of the Spanish ships, the Almirante Oquendo, Vizcaya and 
Maria Teresa (flagship), were quickly destroyed. The Cristobal 
Colon made a desperate attempt to escape, but she was finally 




Richmond Pearson Hobson. 



caught after an exciting chase of nearly fifty miles along the 
coast, and beached. The two torpedo boat destroyers were 
quickly despatched, one by the battleship Texas, and the 
other by the former pleasure yacht Corsair, converted into 



THE YANKEE NAVY. 123 

the Gloucester. This little boat, in charge of Lieutenant- 
Commander Wainwright, who had been second in command 




Winfield Scott Schley. 



on the Maine when she was blown up, accomplished wonders, 
being right in the thick of the battle and escaping with but 



124 THE YANKEE NAVY. 

little damage. In this battle our loss was one man killed, 
and two injured. One thousand three hundred Spanish 
prisoners were taken, among them being Admiral Cervera. 
The result of this battle aroused the admiration of the 
world. At the time Admiral Cervera attempted to make his 
escape, the flagship New York, with Admiral Sampson, was 
eight miles away. Commodore Winfield S. Schley, on the 
Brooklyn, was therefore in immediate charge of our squadron, 
consisting of the Brooklyn, Ioiva, Massacnusetts, Indiana, Texas, 
and the converted yacht Gloucester. 

Thus, in the short space of two months, Spain had received 
two such telling blows on the sea that the utter futility of the 
war she was carrying on with the United States was brought 
into bold relief. The Spanish home fleet, under Admiral 
Camara, made a start for the Philippines, but got only as far 
as the Suez Canal, and upon the widely circulated news that 
this country was about to send a squadron, under Com- 
modore Watson, to appear along the coast of Spain, Admiral 
Camara was quickly ordered to return. 

On July 26th a message from Spain was handed to our 
Government at Washington, through the French Embassador, 
embodying a request to know upon what terms the United 
States would consider peace. 

This result was brought about by the personnel of the 
American navy and the demonstrated effectiveness of our 
ships of war. It was due to grit, gumption and gunnery. 

I FINIS.] 









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